Image: https://chatham.ces.ncsu.edu/
Each tuber or potato has several buds. These are the small sprouts we call potato “eyes”. It is from these buds that new potato plants can grow. When these buds are exposed to warmth and moisture, they begin to swell and soon sprout into entire stems with roots growing from their bases and leaves at the top. Some people ask is it safe to eat potatoes with eyes? When potato sprout the starch is converted into sugar, if the potato is firm it has most of the nutrients intact and can be eaten after the sprouts are removed.
Sometimes potatoes develop a greenish color – a potato exposed to light, sprouted or unsprouted, may have an increased concentration of glycoalkaloids. If this is the case, the toxic area will turn green, which can exert toxic effects on the nervous system by interfering with the body‘s ability to regulate acetylcholine, a chemical responsible for conducting nerve impulses.
So even though a potato’s eyes can’t help it to see underground, they can help it grow more potatoes.
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