Are the eyes in potatoes poisonous?

Question

Someone was telling me that they were but I've probably eaten a few and I'm not dead yet. ..Sounds like some stupid food myth. Does anyone know for sure?

Answer 1

THey are not poisonous, but if you eat them, the roots will grow out of your ears and nose.

Answer 2

Are Potato Eyes Poisonous

Answer 3

No the eyes are not poisonous as such, but there are some toxins in potatoes....read on...

Toxic compounds in potatoes
Potato plants
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Potato plants

Potatoes contain glycoalkaloids, toxic compounds, of which the most prevalent are solanine and chaconine. Cooking at high temperatures (over 170 °C or 340 °F) partly destroys these. The concentration of glycoalkaloid in wild potatoes suffices to produce toxic effects in humans. Glycoalkaloids occur in the greatest concentrations just underneath the skin of the tuber, and they increase with age and exposure to light. Glycoalkaloids may cause headaches, diarrhea, cramps and in severe cases coma and death; however, poisoning from potatoes occurs very rarely. Light exposure also causes greening, thus giving a visual clue as to areas of the tuber that may have become more toxic; however, this does not provide a definitive guide, as greening and glycoalkaloid accumulation can occur independently of each other. Some varieties of potato contain greater glycoalkaloid concentrations than others; breeders developing new varieties test for this, and sometimes have to discard an otherwise promising cultivar.

Breeders try to keep solanine levels below 0.2 mg/g (200 ppmw). However, when even these commercial varieties turn green, they can approach concentrations of solanine of 1 mg/g (1000 ppmw). Some studies suggest that 200 mg of solanine can constitute a dangerous dose. This dose would require eating 1 average-sized spoiled potato or 4 to 9 good potatoes (over 3 pounds or 1.4 kg) at one time. The National Toxicology Program suggests that the average American consumes at most 12.5 mg/person/day of solanine from potatoes. Dr. Douglas L. Holt, the State Extension Specialist for Food Safety at the University of Missouri - Columbia, notes that no reported cases of potato-source solanine poisoning have occurred in the U.S. in the last 50 years and most cases involved eating green potatoes or drinking potato-leaf tea.

Answer 4

The eyes are part of the skin. Potato skins are mildly poisonous. Of course you'd have to eat a whole lot to become sick. The reason nature made the skins poisonous is to protect the potato from in-soil insects.

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Are the eyes in potatoes poisonous?
Someone was telling me that they were but I've probably eaten a few and I'm not dead yet. ..Sounds like some stupid food myth. Does anyone know for sure?

Answer 6

no, the 'eyes' are the areas of the potato that will root if you plant them. They are definately not poisonous, some people just don't like the looks and cut them out.

Answer 7

It is the buds on a potato that are poisonous. Green potatoes and the sprouts on a potato (the buds) are poisonous. They contain toxic alkaloids (alkaloid solanine).


I wanted to add this:
My grandmother told me that one of her little brothers that was about 3 or 4 years old died from eating green potatoes. He loved to eat slices of raw potatoes and he got a hold of some green potatoes and ate quite a few and it killed him. She was not kidding with me when she told me this story (I had reached my adulthood when she told me this story - she had 3 siblings die when she was growing up and she was telling me the stories of their deaths).

If you go to this website it list potatoes (green, buds, sprouts) as poisonous.
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/poisonousplants.html

Answer 8

I've heard it's not good to eat them too. Also the skin is supposed to be toxic if it's green. I'm not dead yet either. I think It's probably an old wives tale

Answer 9

I don't thnk they are... They just don't look very good to eat, all hard and wrinkly...

Answer 10

No just dont eat them