Is It Safe to Eat Sprouted Potatoes (Potato Sprouts)?

When potatoes are left sitting around for too long, they begin to turn green and grow sprouts. Once a potato has sprouted, your safest move is to throw them away.

When potatoes are left sitting around for too long, they begin to turn green and grow sprouts. When potatoes sprout, they produce large amounts of two different toxins. This means that sprouted potatoes can be toxic to humans and dangerous to consume.

There are some ways to make sprouted potatoes safer, but in general, the U.S. poison control center recommends that you play it safe and throw out any potatoes that have sprouted.  

The scientific name for the potato is Solanum tuberosum. 

Currently, potatoes are an incredibly popular food worldwide. They’re grown in over 150 countries. Millions of tons of potatoes are produced globally every year. 

The potato is such a popular food source because it’s inexpensive and provides a wide range of nutrients, including: 

• Energy in the form of starch
• Proteins
• Fiber
• Multiple micronutrients

Potato sprouts are growths that start to emerge from your potatoes when they’ve been left out for too long in particular conditions. Sprouts are a last-ditch effort by the potato to create new life before they spoil. Sprouts are a potato's natural response to certain environmental conditions. 

When potatoes sprout, they start producing large amounts of a number of secondary metabolites. These include: 

• Chlorophyll
• Solanine
• Chaconine

Chlorophyll is a harmless pigment that creates the green coloration in the potato skin. The reason you should pay attention to chlorophyll is that the green coloration is a sign that other — more toxic — chemicals are being produced within the potato. 

This toxicity comes from solanine and chaconine, which are two secondary metabolites known as glycoalkaloids. Normally, they play a role in the plant’s defense system. They’re also toxic when humans eat them. 

The entire plant produces glycoalkaloids, but their highest concentration is in the: 

• Leaves
• Flowers
• Green skin
• Sprouts
• “Eyes” and wounded spots on the potato

The white, starchy interior of the potato contains the lowest concentration of glycoalkaloids.

Certain conditions increase the number of toxic glycoalkaloids in a potato. You will want to limit the exposure of your potatoes to these conditions to extend their shelf life and prevent sprouting. 

Conditions that lead to high levels of toxins include physical damage and light exposure. Physical damage leads to an increase in toxins in the wound and the surrounding area. Such damage and light have a combined effect on toxin production. Your potatoes will be safest if you limit both of these factors. 

The best way to prevent sprouting and limit toxin production is to store your potatoes in: 

• Darkness
• Cool environments
• Dry environments  

Once a potato has sprouted, your safest move is to throw them away. This way, you won’t risk any toxic exposures. 

Alternatively, cutting away the entire skin and all of the sprouts will greatly reduce the number of toxins left in the potato. Just keep in mind that the starchy centers will still contain some glycoalkaloids. 

Unfortunately, you can’t rely on your cooking techniques to eliminate the toxins. Studies have shown that most cooking methods do not reduce the number of toxins found in your potatoes.

You could experience a wide array of symptoms after ingesting the toxins in sprouted potatoes. Both toxins produce similar symptoms. These include abdominal problems like: 

• Nausea
• Vomiting 
• Diarrhea
• Abdominal pain

You could also experience more diverse symptoms, including: 

• Headaches
• Confusion
• Fever

In some cases, consuming too many of these toxins could end in death.

You should never eat sprouted potatoes if you’re pregnant. Early evidence indicates that eating sprouted potatoes can lead to a variety of developmental problems in your growing baby. This is particularly true if you consume a lot of sprouted potatoes early on in your pregnancy.

Potential side effects include neuronal defects and the formation of facial clefts. More research is needed in order to verify these initial findings, but multiple studies have found evidence of these problems. 

The way that you respond to a potential potato poisoning depends on the severity of your symptoms. In mild cases, you should stay home, rest, and drink plenty of fluids. 

However, you need to seek medical attention if your symptoms are: 

• Severe
• Don’t go away
• Prevent you from keeping fluids down 

You should call poison control if you’re at all concerned that you or your child has consumed toxic, sprouted potatoes. They have experts available to give you advice about your particular situation. 

It can oftentimes feel like a waste when you throw out a bunch of old potatoes. Although it’s not a good idea to eat these potatoes, you could cut them up into useful tubers. These can be planted in the ground, where they’ll form a full plant and produce new potatoes.  

However, it’s generally not recommended to use store-bought potatoes to grow new potatoes. Store-bought potatoes are raised to be food, so they’re not the best at forming successful new plants. Plant diseases can also survive on the surfaces of potatoes and can spoil your chances of getting new crops. 

If you want to grow potatoes, your best bet is to buy new seed tubers from a verified distributor. 

There are a few safety precautions that you should keep in mind whenever you’re working with vegetables like potatoes. Examples include: 

• Using a separate cutting board for your vegetables and your meats. This prevents cross-contamination with dangerous bacteria that can live in meat.
• Scrubbing the skin with a firm produce brush. This can help you remove chemicals, bacteria, and viruses that could be on your potato’s surface. For example, a number of commercial potato distributors coat the skins with a chemical called CIPC, which refers to isopropyl N-3-chlorophenyl carbamate. This chemical extends the shelf life of the potatoes by keeping them from sprouting. 
• Throwing away any produce that looks rotten. Very old potatoes can rot away entirely. You should never eat these.