Talk:Solanine

In potatoes

Is there any research on cooking vs steaming potatoes? Steam typically has a higher temperature than boiling water so shold have a beneficial effect. Or not?Theking2 (talk) 19:12, 28 April 2024 (UTC)

Was this section written by a scientist? Because it’s pretty sciency to describe the “purpose” of the green part of an exposed potato as “designed” to protect the plant from scavenging by animals. Alanrobts (talk) 06:09, 4 September 2024 (UTC)

Query

i ate some potatoe with green stuff on it like 10 mintues ago well i get sick or anything like that?

I expect you might have done. Can you let us know? Rich Farmbrough, 11:01 8 November 2006 (GMT).

As per figures given in this page 125 Grams of potoatoes could cause poisoning due to Solanine content, this does not sound right,people regularly eat many times more potatoes with no poisoning. Can some one check these figures —Preceding unsigned comment added by Skdeewan (talk • contribs) 06:34, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

Exactly - the numbers here don't add up. How is 25mg the beginning of toxicity when commercial potatoes can have 0.2mg/g? It seems that in the two places the 25mg figure is mentioned it should be 25mg/kg, which is a normal way to specify toxicity in any case.

It's toxic, it doesn't mean you will die. It's simply not recommended if you want to stay as healthy as you can. But the amount is too little to really make you sick in a visible way. Eating not ripe tomatoes or potatoes in fairly good amount is another thing...

The article says that 6 mg/kg is a fatal dose. That's 2.1 kg of potatoes for a typical adult, far less if they're green. So it does so mean you will die. However the entire thesis that even green spuds with highly elevated solanine levels are dangerous is seemingly contradicted by FSAI, so who knows?. 81.102.25.109 (talk) 08:11, 9 February 2023 (UTC)

Hypothermia symptom

When this symptom occurs, does the person feel cold? Recently I ate a large meal of potatoes, and soon after I felt quite cold, almost shivering, which was very strange when considering the setting and room temperature. Also had minor indigestion. Maybe this solanine poisoning is more easy to come by than thought... or maybe these symptoms were coincidental? They didn't appear discoloured or soft. The next day I ate more of the same potatoes (cooked with the originals) and felt chills again. Peoplesunionpro 19:04, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

If you ate cooked and ripe potatoes, there's 0 risk, and this symptom is not due to your meal of potatoes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.91.51.235 (talk) 13:18, 7 July 2019 (UTC)

Cooking does not destroy solanine, as you can see from the article - please do not spread misinformation! - greenrd (talk) 06:03, 15 April 2023 (UTC)

Caraway

I have heard that caraway neutralizes the solanine in potatoes. However, I cannot find any serious references (either supporting it or saying it is a myth). It is only discussed at Czech pages about cooking. Is there any serious reference? Jiri — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.250.11.134 (talk) 20:16, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Denaturing

Is solanine broken down by cooking at high temperatures, e.g. deep frying? Rich Farmbrough, 11:01 8 November 2006 (GMT).

Silly me "Deep-frying potatoes at 170° C (306° F) will effectively lower glycoalkaloid levels, but microwaving is only somewhat effective and boiling is not." Rich Farmbrough, 11:02 8 November 2006 (GMT).

However, the soft interior of French fries doesn't get heated above 100° C (else all of the water would have evaporated). Icek 21:02, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Some Original Research. Having eaten slightly green potatoes a few times and experienced the effects I now steer well clear of them. I'm looking at this article now because I had the effects today after eating some oldish but not obviously green potatoes yesterday. Symptoms tend to be sharp to vivid dreams overnight followed by mild headache and sickness the next day (similar to but a different pattern from migraine). I spotted a couple of green-tinged chips in a bag I ate a few years ago but assumed that as the amount of greenness was quite limited it wouldn't make much difference. Wrong - I had the same symptoms. Greening is associated with exposure to sunlight hence a surface phenomenon but perhaps solanine is transported away from the surface to the interior where the temperature effect of deep frying is less. Don't eat green potatoes - they may not kill you but they'll waste a day of your life. Opbeith (talk) 21:19, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

I've been eating (slightly) green potatoes, even with peel, boiled, all my life and never experienced anything except possibly mild "stomach rumbling". The same with very green potatoes that had the green parts removed. Of course, solanin levels do vary by cultivar; I eg. am from Europe. Plus, green does not necessarily equal solanine. On the other hand, given the low price, there is no reason to not avoid green potatoes. --92.202.110.212 (talk) 00:46, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

Nicotine

If someone could find some information about the relationship between Solanine and Nicotine, this would probably not be a bad place for it. Figs 10:23, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

There is not any resemblance in the structure of nicotine and solanine. The only similarity is the basic fact that both are toxic alkaloids that occur in the Solanaceae family.--Metalhead94 (talk) 11:10, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

chaconine

I'm no chemist, but I wonder why there is no article for chaconine. Seems like an odd thing to miss if its a natural product of potatoes. Is it spelled right in this article? Vees 15:50, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Chaconine is here

Past "Avoidance" section

There was some good information in the now-removed "avoidance" section (deep-frying reduces glycoalkaloid levels; bitter taste indicates toxicity; etc.).

I've integrated it and reworded it so that it's presenting facts, not giving advice.

Tomatoes?

Do tomatoes contain solanine? Someone on the tomato discussion wants to know. I am a lemon 00:09, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

No. Andrewa (talk) 19:37, 13 December 2017 (UTC)

Yes, they do. But very small amount, if the tomato is ripe. Ripe tomatoes are 100% safe. But green tomatoes and leaves (as some crazy people eat

 leaves!) are not.
See here: https://www.botanical-online.com/en/food/tomatoes-toxicity#Do_tomatoes_also_contain_solanine_and_tomatine  
 For instance Tomatine in ripe tomatoes (fruit): 0.03-0.08mg/100g
 Tomatine in tomatoes leaves: 14-130mg /100g (fresh) 
 See the difference... 
 See here: http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US1997050225
 By the way, the article doesn't say the truth when it says there's NO solanine. The truth is the amount is tiny, and non toxic. But it should be edited.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.91.51.235 (talk) 12:42, 7 July 2019 (UTC) 

Gillian McKeith

Gillian McKeith claims in You Are What You Eat (p 77) that people who are Arthritic, or have muscular or bone problems should avoid the nightshades because of their solanine content. It would mess with the enzymes in their muscles. Also, cooking or baking the nightshades in some miso soup would "neutralize the solanine compound". Does this claim have any scientific basis? Wmeijers 21:09, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I've found some sources myself. Don't know if there is any truth in these sources tho... http://www.noarthritis.com/research.htm http://www.vitaminevi.com/Concern/Osteoarthritis.htm Wmeijers 21:37, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Anticholinergic

I was wondering if solanine is an anticholinergic because the article states that a high overdose can cause hallucinations and dilated pupils. I see there is not any structural similarity to the well-known anticholinergics atropine and scopolamine, however, the side-effect profile is similar and they are both found in plants of the same family. Anyone know for sure? If solanine is an anticholinergic agent then it should definitely be mentioned in the article.--Metalhead94 (talk) 11:16, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

A google search for "solanine anticholinergic" finds "Jimson weed, which contains solanine, is an ingredient in over-the counter drug preparations used for treating bronchial asthma attacks and as an anticholinergic for relieving cough and cold symptoms (21 CFR 250.12). However, its effectiveness for either use is questionable." (Testing Status of agents at NTP). Whether this is something to mention in the article is not immediately clear to me, but I imagine it could be worked in somehow. Kingdon (talk) 11:31, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Okay. In the meantime, I'll look around for more info on the subject.--Metalhead94 (talk) 12:37, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

There are no reliable and referenced scientific sources for the occurrence of solanine in Datura species. The main action for solanine is known and there is no indication of anticholinergic activity as far as I can see. There is no structural similarity to known anticholinergic drugs. Hope that helped, Cacycle (talk) 19:38, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

I had thought that solanine in jimsonweed sounded strange. But if you read my earlier comment at the top of the section you would realize that I already knew there was no chemical similarity to atropine and scopolamine (and other anticholinergic drugs), but the symptoms of an overdose resembled those drugs to a great extent. Drugs do not have to be chemically similar to effect the same system. Take ethanol and benzodiazapines for example.--Metalhead94 (talk) 16:24, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Solanine Hydrochloride

Is it actually a salt as mentioned in the article, or merely just a solution with Solanine and Hydrochloride mixed in for stability / some other reason? I was having a hard time trying to figure out which hydroxyl group would get deprotonated. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.130.117.239 (talk) 21:29, 3 October 2009 (UTC)

Good point - I can't find a suitable candidate for deprotonation anywhere in the molecule. However, solanine might be more soluble in mildly acidic solutions as one (or more) of its hydroxyl groups could acquire an extra proton. Makes sense? 173.206.231.114 (talk) 00:18, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

Error in article? Solubility of solanine in water

Currently the article states:

Deep frying potatoes at 170°C (338°F) is known to effectively lower glycoalkaloid levels (because they move into the frying fat), as does boiling (because solanine is water soluble), while microwaving is only somewhat effective, and freeze drying or dehydration has little effect.[10] [11]

This does not make sense to me. Either a compound is soluble in water, or in fat, but not both. So I looked up solanine solubility, and this is what it says:

READILY SOL[uble] IN HOT ALC[ohol], PRACTICALLY INSOL[uble] IN WATER (25 MG/L @ PH 6.0), ETHER, CHLOROFORM (The Merck Index, 9th ed. Rahway, New Jersey, Merck & Co Inc, 1976, p1124).

Could an expert please investigate and fix the article as a matter of urgency? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.170.123.74 (talk) 09:09, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

The reference clearly states

Solanine is soluble in water and diffused by boiling potatoes but not by baking them. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.22.100.37 (talk) 03:04, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

α-Chaconine and Solanine are triglycerides of the same alkaloid, Solanidine. It would be useful to some (would have been to me, for example) if the same systems were used to draw their structures and to name them. Thus at present the alkaloid moiety of α-Chaconine appears as solanid, while that for Solanine is spelled out in detail. This may be because the article for α-Chaconine is still so brief. If some prefer one system to the other, then both might be shown. About the solubility of Solanine in water. I note that the temperature of the water is not mentioned in the quotation above from the Merck Index; except where specified, the temperature meant in reporting solubility is generally room temperature. Citation 9 (…for Errol Zeiger…) states specifically, “Boiling is not effective…” which contradicts the present statement about that in the article. About Solanine Hydrochloride. I don’t understand what is meant about deprotonating hydroxyl groups. Forming the salt would involve protonating the nitrogen of the Solanidine moiety. The pKb of Solanidine would be of interest to chemist readers. 91.54.117.240 (talk) 02:11, 17 September 2015 (UTC)

I have just removed the statement and the anonymous 1960 reference claiming that solanine can be removed from potatoes by boiling them in water. This wrong advice is chemically implausible (see Merck reference above), and it is dangerous advice which can lead to poisoning. I am disappointed that Wikipedia has published incorrect and dangerous advice for so long despite the warning above. As the IP user above rightly states, the Zeiger reference explicitly states that boiling does NOT remove toxic solanine from potatoes, and now I have added a 2006 review article which confirms this. For any editor wishing to check my edit, here is the original dubious statement and reference from the previous Wikipedia article version:

"Deep frying potatoes at 170°C (338°F) is known to effectively lower glycoalkaloid levels, because they move into the frying fat, as does boiling, because solanine is water-soluble, while microwave cooking is only somewhat effective."

References

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K+ or Ca2+ - Error in "Mechanism of action" ?

K+ / "Potassium" is mentioned in the article, while the linked reference "Gao, Shi-Yong; Wang, Qiu-Juan; Ji, Yu-Bin (2006)" and also the DE wikipedia article speak only about Ca2+ .? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.27.84.213 (talk) 08:24, 26 January 2017 (UTC)

Removing hit and run tag

Many handbooks of poisonous plants cite the tomato plant for killing livestock and sickening people. According to the California Poison Control System’s “Poisoning and Drug Overdose,” edited by Kent R. Olson (McGraw-Hill, 2006), the tomato toxin is solanine, one of two alkaloids that make greened potatoes toxic.

That's what the citation says for the claim currently in the article, which reads Some, such as the California Poison Control System, have claimed that tomatoes and tomato leaves contain solanine. [citation needed] However, Mendel Friedman of the United States Department of Agriculture contradicts this claim, stating that tomatine, a relatively benign alkaloid, is the tomato alkaloid while solanine is found in potatoes. Food science writer Harold McGee has found scant evidence for tomato toxicity in the medical and veterinary literature.[14]

That all seems properly referenced claim to me. So why the citation needed tag? My guess is that the person who added it didn't bother to read the reference.

It's all too common. Easily fixed. Andrewa (talk) 19:41, 13 December 2017 (UTC)

The article is wrong, they contains it, but in very very small amount. Thus, you should edit it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.91.51.235 (talk) 13:24, 7 July 2019 (UTC)

Solanine content change from storage

The citation (Wilson, AM; McGann, DF; Bushway, RJ (February 1983). "Effect of Growth-Location and Length of Storage on Glycoalkaloid Content of Roadside-Stand Potatoes as Stored by Consumers") given to claim that solanine content increases with storage actually shows a decrease in content with storage (at 12° C). Is there another study saying otherwise (perhaps at a different temperature)? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:1C0:8500:420:515D:B04:9687:C62B (talk) 23:47, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Edit by other User: I just found the same thing and was surprised about this as well.
See Table 5 in the source. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Luifire (talk • contribs) 10:04, 15 May 2021 (UTC)