I’ve noticed that one of the onions I have in storage has begun growing green “tentacles” or stems out the top? Potatos do something similer, but at various points over their skin.
My question is: HOW did my onion begin growing? It’s been in a cool dark place, with no access to water, soil or sunlight. So exactly what is prompting it to “sprout”?
Oh, and is it still heathly to eat once I cut the growing part off? It’s freakly looking, but so are shrimp and I eat those.
It’s OK to eat the sprouting part of an onion, but under no circumstances, never, EVER eat the sprouting part of a potato or its leaves. As members of the nightshade family, they are extremely toxic. You should never eat a potato that has a greenish skin either, as it can contain some toxin, though not as much as the sprouting bits. Tomatoes are in the nightshade family too, so don’t use the leafy greens in a salad.
Tikki, I’ll concede defeat here. I’ll quote one of your references:
“Given the widespread consumption of potatoes, documented cases of glycoalkaloid poisoning are fortunately very rare,” adds Driedger. "The last reported case of significant human illness from eating potatoes occurred in 1979 in England. It was reported that 78 children at a school in southeast London began complaining of diarrhea, vomiting and malaise. Eventually, 17 of the children were hospitalized with several becoming comatose.
All the students who became ill had been part of the first sitting of the midday meal at the school. Potatoes were the only item of food eaten in common by all the ill children. Subsequent analysis of the potatoes remaining in the school kitchen showed they contained about 330 mg/kg glycoalkaloid, a level approximately five-times higher than typically seen in table potatoes."
3waygeek, Cecil’s work isn’t decisive here. He said stuff similar to what I was thinking. Tikki’s cites, if true, trump Cecil. But bear in mind Cecil was talking about chips.
My worry is that you only have “one”? Clearly you spend too much time cleaning your 'fridge.
I’ve decided that I am going for a jungle effect in my kitchen and I feel the fridge should add to this over-all concept. For heavens sake, I’ve got tentacles growning out of my hamburger and the other day, what used to be a plate of old green beans took a bite out of an old cupcake. Unfortunately, the beans died after that, but afterall, that is life in the jungle.
Actually, the solanine content of the young potato leaves is generally low enough that you can cook and eat them. This thread: Are Habanero leaves edible ? gives details.
That said, don’t EVER eat potato sprouts. They are high in alkaloids, and solanine poisoning is very unpleasant.
I only have one because I’ve been eating the rest before this. I wasn’t sure it was safe to eat, and to tell the truth, I kinda found it interesting to watch it grow.
When you say the sprouting parts do you mean the “eyes”? The little knobs that grow all over the potato or are you talking about some part of the potato that I’ve never seen before? (I’ve never seen a potato with leaves for instance.)
Yes. Here’s one I love: bake good brown baking potatoes in a regular oven for 45 minutes (done when you squeeze it and it feels done, and it isn’t stiff when you cut through it). Eat the white insides as usual, leaving some white with the skin. Put a good amount of butter in the skin and eat it, ha. If no one is watching, just pick it up and eat it like a taco, butter and all.
Question, I have always trimmed out the eyes for fear of the poison. Is this really required? recommended? superstitious? Do others get away with routinely eating them without trimming?
