Editing Potato (section)

== Toxicity ==
{{Multiple image
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| align         = center
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| footer        = Some toxic [[solanine]]-rich parts of ''S. tuberosum'' 
| caption1      = The inedible [[potato fruit]]
| caption2      = Tubers exposed to light
| image1        = Solanum tuberosum 004.JPG
| image2        = Aardappel groene knollen (Solanum tuberosum).jpg
}}

Raw potatoes contain [[Toxicity|toxic]] [[glycoalkaloid]]s, of which the most prevalent are solanine and [[chaconine]]. Solanine is found in other plants in the same family, [[Solanaceae]], which includes such plants as deadly nightshade (''[[Atropa belladonna]]''), henbane (''[[Hyoscyamus niger]]'') and tobacco (''[[Nicotiana]]'' spp.), as well as food plants like tomato. These compounds, which protect the potato plant from its predators, are especially concentrated in the aerial parts of the plant. The tubers are low in these toxins, unless they are exposed to light, which makes them go green.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tomato-like Fruit on Potato Plants |url=http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2004/7-2-2004/tomatopotato.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040716065133/http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2004/7-2-2004/tomatopotato.html |archive-date=16 July 2004 |access-date=8 January 2009 |publisher=[[Iowa State University]]}}</ref><ref name="fried">{{cite journal | last1=Friedman | first1=Mendel | last2=McDonald | first2=Gary M. | last3=Filadelfi-Keszi | first3=MaryAnn | title=Potato Glycoalkaloids: Chemistry, Analysis, Safety, and Plant Physiology | journal=Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences | volume=16 | issue=1 | date=1997 | issn=0735-2689 | doi=10.1080/07352689709701946 | pages=55–132| bibcode=1997CRvPS..16...55F }}</ref>

Exposure to light, physical damage, and age increase glycoalkaloid content within the tuber.<ref name="Greening of potatoes">{{cite web |year=2005 |title=Greening of potatoes |url=http://www.csiro.au/resources/green-potatoes |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125205141/http://www.csiro.au/resources/green-potatoes |archive-date=25 November 2011 |access-date=15 November 2008 |publisher=[[Food Science Australia]]}}</ref> Different potato varieties contain different levels of glycoalkaloids. The '[[Lenape (potato) |Lenape]]' variety, released in 1967, was withdrawn in 1970 as it contained high levels of glycoalkaloids.<ref name="boing">{{cite web |last=Koerth-Baker |first=Marggie |date=25 March 2013 |title=The case of the poison potato |url=https://boingboing.net/2013/03/25/the-case-of-the-poison-potato.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151108070908/http://boingboing.net/2013/03/25/the-case-of-the-poison-potato.html |archive-date=8 November 2015 |access-date=8 November 2015 |publisher=boingboing.net}}</ref> Since then, breeders of new varieties test for this, sometimes discarding an otherwise promising [[cultivar]]. Breeders try to keep glycoalkaloid levels below {{cvt|200|mg/kg}}. However, when these commercial varieties turn green, their [[solanine]] concentrations can go well above this limit,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Friedman |first1=Mendel |last2=Roitman |first2=James N. |last3=Kozukue |first3=Nobuyuki |date=2003-05-07 |title=Glycoalkaloid and calystegine contents of eight potato cultivars |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12720378/ |journal=Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry |volume=51 |issue=10 |pages=2964–2973 |doi=10.1021/jf021146f |issn=0021-8561 |pmid=12720378|bibcode=2003JAFC...51.2964F }}</ref> with higher levels in the potato's skin.<ref>{{cite book |author=Shaw, Ian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XlfVw2QmdvIC&pg=PA129 |title=Is it Safe to Eat?: Enjoy Eating and Minimize Food Risks |publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-3-540-21286-7 |location=[[Berlin]] |page=129}}</ref>