Today’s interesting fact has to do with green potatoes.

This past weekend, I was asked if it was safe to eat green potatoes.

The simple answer is that it isn’t.

I was then asked why… no one should ever ask me why if they don’t want the answer.

When potatoes are exposed to light, they turn green.

This is caused by chlorophyll becoming active in the tuber under the skin.

But it is not the chlorophyll that causes the problem, but the glycoalkaloids that are produced along with the chlorophyll.

These are mostly the chemicals solanine and chaconine, but there are others.

High concentrations of these compounds can cause headaches, diarrhoea, cramps, coma and death.

So don’t eat green potatoes.