Can sprouted food be eaten?
2024-01-03
In winter, many people buy some food and store it, but it is easy to sprout. This has caused confusion to many people: Can the food still be eaten if it has sprouted? In fact, whether food can be eaten does not depend on its state, but whether it contains toxic substances.
- Sprouted potatoes: Throw them away if they are highly toxic.
- Sprouted sweet potatoes: not poisonous but best not to eat.
- Sprouted peanuts: may produce aflatoxin.
- Sprouted garlic: edible.
- Sprouted ginger: edible.
- Sprouted taro: edible.
- Sprouted brown rice: Double the nutrition.
When it comes to "sprouted foods are poisonous", potatoes are definitely on the list. In order to resist pest attacks, potatoes can produce some toxic substances to protect themselves, the most famous of which is solanine. The solanine produced by potatoes is mainly found in the stems and leaves. The part we often eat is its tubers.
The content of solanine in potatoes is very low under normal conditions, but once they begin to sprout and turn green, solanine will be produced in large amounts, exceeding the safe range for consumption. Therefore, eating sprouted potatoes can easily lead to food poisoning. To be on the safe side, it's best to throw away sprouted potatoes.
Maybe it’s because they look and taste very similar. If potatoes sprout and produce toxins, does the same apply to sweet potatoes?
In fact, sweet potatoes and potatoes are completely different types of plants. Potatoes are from the Solanaceae family, sweet potatoes are from the Convolvulaceae family, and one is a tuber and the other is a root. For sweet potatoes, sprouting itself does not produce any harmful substances, but we do not recommend that you eat sprouted sweet potatoes.
Because the environmental conditions that are suitable for germination are also suitable for mildew in sweet potatoes. Mold produces some toxins during its growth and reproduction. Generally, the germination of sweet potatoes will be accompanied by mildew, so be sure to check carefully. If any abnormality is found, do not eat it again. By the way, purple potatoes and sweet potatoes are from the same family, and they can be treated the same.
Peanut sprouts grow from peanuts, which are edible themselves, but it is not recommended for everyone to eat. Because after the peanut shell is destroyed, it is easily contaminated by mold and produces terrible aflatoxin, which has strong carcinogenic effects.
On the one hand, the humidity, temperature and other conditions suitable for germination are very suitable for the growth of mold; on the other hand, if the peanuts are not good to begin with, then it is likely that mold is already present. Therefore, sprouted peanuts at home are likely to be a comfortable breeding ground for aflatoxin production. Therefore, it is safer to throw it away just to be on the safe side.
The garlic we usually buy from the supermarket can easily germinate and grow leaves under a suitable temperature environment. Such "secondary development" will indeed consume part of the nutritional value of garlic itself, causing the garlic cloves to shrink and shrivel, reducing the taste, but it will not produce toxic substances and can be eaten with confidence.
Compared with fresh garlic, sprouted garlic has stronger antioxidant properties and can prevent aging more effectively.
In fact, most of the ginger we buy home has buds, but some buds are inconspicuous and some buds have been removed. If you cut the sprouted ginger with a knife, you will find that the inside of the ginger is shriveled and the fibers are rough.
After sprouting, the nutritional value of ginger is reduced, but its main components are not destroyed and can be eaten.
Having said that, I would like to remind everyone: if you find that ginger is rotten after cutting it, don’t eat it. Rotten ginger contains a substance called safrole, which may cause degeneration and necrosis of liver cells, thereby inducing various liver diseases and should not be eaten.
Like potatoes, taro will sprout if left for a long time. Although the nutritional content of taro is similar to that of potatoes, sprouted taro is non-toxic and everyone can eat it with confidence!
When brown rice germinates, a large number of enzyme sources are activated, and a variety of hydrolytic enzymes are newly produced, such as amylase, hemicellulase, protease, oxidoreductase, etc., causing significant changes in the energy and nutrients inside the brown rice. Some large molecules in rice turn into small molecules, making it easier for nutrients to be digested and absorbed.
Some current studies show that sprouted brown rice is rich in B vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, niacin, pantothenic acid, etc. Moreover, the calcium, magnesium and other minerals in brown rice are mostly combined with phytic acid, making them difficult to be absorbed by the body when eaten. However, during the germination process, due to the activation of phytase, phytic acid is decomposed and mineral elements are released, which are easily digested and absorbed by the human body.
