Are the green on potato skins lethal?

Question

I was told that you should never eat the green areas of skin on old or damaged potatoes. But how much green skin on a potato would I have to eat before getting sick?

Answer 1

Forget the skin, discard the entire potato if it has green on it. The green on the toxic potato is chlorophyll (harmless) but is an indicator of high concentrations of glycoalkaloids that are caused by overexposure to light

Potatoes are a member of the Solanaceae family of plants, which include tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, tobacco, and nightshade. A high concentration of glycoalkaloids is present in the leaves, shoots and fruit and is why they should never be eaten.

The light causes the solanine content to escalate as natural protection against being eating by foraging animals. A lethal dose might be 1 milligram per pound of a person’s bosy mass. Therefore, an adult with an average body weight must eat around 5 pounds of potatoes.

Answer 2

Don't try this at home, kids!

Peel it off. It won't kill you--in fact, I've eaten potato chips that had a little green on the edges and I'm still here (or am I a ghost trying to get you to eat green potatoes and kill yourself, hmmm? Spooooky!)

My dad won't eat potato skins, period. Not even the brown ones, when they're on baked potatoes and they taste soooo gooood...but he's a fool. So peel off the green part...peel off the whole peel, if you don't mind losing some vitamins and fiber.

And store your potatoes in a dark, cool place to keep the green down.

Answer 3

My understanding is that there are a couple of different causes. One is exposure to light. If the potato went green due to light it is okay. The other cause is a fungus, which has lethal properties and is much rarer. The difficulty lies in telling the difference. In home ec. class, they told us to peel off the green part and you are okay, either way.