Why causes potatoes to turn alittle black in color?

Question

I am not talking about them getting burnt but sometimes there are some blackened areas on the potatoes when finished cooking??? What cause this?

Answer 1

Reasons Potatoes Turn Black After Cooking:

Potatoes occasionally turn gray or dark after they are boiled; this color change may be caused by the conditions under which they were grown or stored. It's impossible to tell which potatoes will turn dark, but the discoloration does not affect flavor, texture, or nutritional value. Contact with aluminum or iron will also discolor potatoes, so cook them in stainless steel pots.

More reasons why cooked potatoes turn black:

1. According to the Idaho Potato Growers at http://www.idahopotato.com/faq/index.php

If the potatoes were stored too cold (below 40 degrees F) then they can turn black. Could also have black bruising from being handled (dropped) when cold.

2. If your potatoes turn black after they are boiled, you may be using an aluminum or reactive pot, so it's important to use a pot that's non-reactive.

3. While cooling, iron in the potato combines with other natural compounds, causing a grey, black, or bluish-purple color. To prevent this, after the potatoes are cooked and drained, stir in a small amount of lemon juice and keep them covered with a tight-fitting lid.

4. According to the American Journal of Potato Research:

After-cooking darkening (ACD) is one of the most widespread, undesirable characteristics of cultivated potato. With the current expansion of the potato-processing industry around the world, there is a renewed interest in the development of new ways to prevent ACD. After-cooking darkening is caused by the oxidation of the ferri-chlorogenic acid in the boiled or fried potatoes. The severity of the darkening is dependent on the ratio of chlorogenic acid to citric acid concentrations in the potato tubers. Higher ratio normally results in darker tubers. The concentration of the chlorogenic and citric acids is genetically controlled and influenced by environmental conditions. This paper outlines the history of ACD and current status of knowledge of the chemistry of the dark pigment formation and its genetic and environmental determinants. Also discussed are the methods of chemical prevention of ACD presently used by the potato-processing industry and potential strategies for reducing tuber after cooking darkening using molecular approaches.

This infor was on the web site listed below.

Hope I helped!!

:)

Answer 2

It does not recommend that they are spoiled. raw potatoes will continually do this, there's a chemical interior them that turns them black. My kindergarten instructor used them for portray in college. in case you'll peel a potato earlier than time, you'll favor to parboil it or by some ability practice dinner it somewhat, so as that it does not turn black. for instance, in case you peeled and grated them, then positioned them interior the microwave for a minute or so. if you're making potato salad, make confident they are boiled first beforehand you positioned them interior the refrigerator. or do exactly not do them earlier than time. Your are good, they seem extremely nasty at the same time as they bypass black.

Answer 3

Sometimes it is because the black part was not under the water when boiling for instance - exposure to air.

Answer 4

it means that when you stored them, you stored them in too cold of an environement (below 40F) and they turned black before you cooked it.

or they were going bad before you cooked them and the black spots are bruising

Answer 5

they are bruises from becoming old.