Potatoes are one of the most widely consumed and extremely flexible vegetables that can be prepared in a multitude of ways at any time of year.Fresh potatoes are used in a wide variety of recipes, including mashed potatoes, potato dumplings, twice-baked potatoes, potato pancakes, potato soup, and potato salad with vegetables. Potatoes are high in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, making them nutritious food.A potato’s look, flavor, texture, and quality are all affected by many external factors. This vegetable can only be grown in settings where the temperature is somewhat cool during the growing seasons. Therefore, there are a variety of ways for a potato to go spoiled or become less pleasant. Temperatures between 29-32 F (-1.7-0 C) cause light frost, but the temperature of 25-28 F (-3.9 C - -2.2 C) cause serious damage to the quality of potatoes. A heavy frost of 24 F (-4.4 C) or below in the fall ends the season, but a hard freeze in the spring kills potato plants at the ground level.Potatoes raise blood sugar levels as they have a high glycemic index. Peeled potatoes, in particular, have a high glycemic index. Increasing your blood sugar and insulin levels by eating a lot of potatoes is a bad idea. As a result, potatoes are a bad choice for people with diabetes.When it comes to extending the life and quality of potatoes, proper potato storage and process are crucial. Even when plucked from the vine, a raw potato may still be alive and continue to grow and develop. Potatoes need to breathe, so don’t put them in a plastic bag or a container that can’t breathe. A cardboard box, paper or mesh bag, or a basket are the best options.If you like this article, you may also find it interesting to read these fun facts articles on when do tulips bloom and where do almonds come from.How do you know when potatoes go bad?Although potatoes can be stored in ideal circumstances for a long time, they will ultimately grow rotten and become inedible. Potatoes will start sprouting or become tender after one to two weeks. Potatoes, like any other tuberous crop, will go rotten if not stored properly over time.You can tell if potatoes are edible or not by touching their skin. The skin of raw potatoes should be taut and free of big bruises, dark patches, and other imperfections. If a potato becomes soft or mushy, you can throw it away. While it’s natural for potatoes to smell earthy or nutty, a musty or moldy stench indicates that they’ve gone spoiled and you should throw them away.In a similar manner to human skin which ages, sags, and develops spots, potato skin ages, sags, and develops spots. While these are hard-won characteristics of a happy life in individuals, they are signs to tell if potatoes are bad or not. Although a little age won’t ruin the taste of potatoes, it’s better to toss out any that have shown signs of wrinkled, sagging skin, have a mushy feel, or if they’re damp in the bag.Even after sprouting, it is safe to eat potatoes as long as they are solid to the touch, don’t appear wrinkly or shriveled, and the sprouts are little. Potato sprouts, on the other hand, may contain toxins, so you should remove them and make sure the potato isn’t too old. Before sprouts form, green dots occur. A minor green spot can be seen in any poisonous potato. The greening of the peel is linked to an increase in solanine, according to a study. While minor green spots can be easily removed, large green spots should be discarded.Potatoes can become bad in certain circumstances. They contain a neurotoxin called solanine, which can be harmful to your health if taken in high amounts. Nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramps, vomiting, headaches, and dizziness are some of the symptoms.The aroma of fresh potatoes is earthy and starchy. This aroma changes as they deteriorate, turning bitter and rotten. Some potatoes may appear good on the outside but are actually rotting on the inside, smelling unpleasant and moldy. If your house smells like you have bad potatoes, cut it open to examine if the ruined spot is tiny enough to cut out and remove, or if the entire potato must be thrown away. One blemished spot does not mean you need to discard the entire potato. It is entirely acceptable to eat potatoes in the undamaged parts assuming there are no dark stains.Potatoes can be eaten three weeks after the best-before date has passed. Cut off the green patches and consume the rest if they have turned green and sprouted in small patches. Cut away these pieces if they’ve gone moldy, as long as what you’re going to consume is creamy-colored and firm. To investigate the potato’s inside for the earliest symptoms of deterioration, just chop it into tiny pieces.When do red potatoes go bad?Small red potatoes can be stored in your pantry for up to two weeks. If you keep potatoes in the fridge, they should last for two to three months. These potatoes, whether baked, mashed or boiled, have more complex carbs that offer energy than a cup of spaghetti. Potatoes are a terrific source of complex carbohydrates and micronutrients for our bodies.When potatoes are stored for an extended period of time, they might sprout, raising questions about whether they are safe to eat. As the potato develops sprout, the glycoalkaloid concentration increases. As a result, consuming sprouted potatoes could lead to an overabundance of these compounds. So tossing out the sprouting area (just scrab sprouts), ’eyes’, green skin, and bruised sections may help lower your toxicity risk.Potatoes should be stored in a cool dark place of your kitchen pantry with excellent ventilation and out of direct sunlight as a general rule. A kitchen cabinet or closet, as well as the basement or garage, are all viable options. Potatoes require air circulation to avoid moisture buildup, which can lead to deterioration. Storing potatoes in an open bowl or paper bag is the best option to allow for free air movement.Store them in an airtight container designed for fridge keeping, such as a zipped plastic bag or lidded glassware, rather than in a sealed container with no ventilation.When do mashed potatoes go bad?If stored properly and within two hours of cooking, mashed potatoes should survive three to four days in the fridge. If you don’t have a fridge for storing mashed potatoes and you store potatoes in a pantry at room temperature, potatoes can last for 24 hours.When the liquid separates from the solid in mashed potatoes, it’s time for them to throw away out. The liquid will initially be clear and can be blended back in and utilized, but it will eventually develop a white haze and the potatoes will smell sour, at which point the cooked potatoes must be tossed. Bacteria grows quickly at temperatures between 40-140 F (4.4-60 C), therefore cooked potatoes at room temperature for more than two hours should be thrown away.In commercial storage facilities, they store potatoes and process raw potatoes at 90-95 % relative humidity (RH), although household surroundings rarely have this humidity for storing them. You can boil raw potatoes ahead of time and keep them covered and refrigerated for subsequent use. They will last up to three days in the fridge.Keep in mind that mashed potatoes can go rotten, but they can be stored in the refrigerator for a long time. This isn’t to say that you should prepare in bulk and preserve it for a week, but knowing what to do with leftovers is helpful. If you’ve added any dairy products to your mashed potatoes, don’t leave them out on the counter overnight.Do potatoes go bad when they freeze?Potatoes can last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months that have not been cooked. Potatoes can be refrigerated for three to four days after cooking, or frozen for up to a year.The better the potatoes freeze, the fresher they are. When mashed or shredded, cooked potatoes freeze nicely for a few weeks but soon lose flavor and may cause signs of spoilage. They frequently do not turn black in the freezer but do when thawed after being frozen. This is commonly caused by oxygen exposure, which can be avoided by blanching fresh sliced or peeled potatoes in water before freezing.The taste and structure of the cells alter when they are frozen. When cooked, they will turn black. Freezer burn has set in if the frozen potatoes have acquired dry spots or discoloration. This does not make frozen potatoes unsafe to consume, but it will affect the texture and taste.Potatoes are bad, but after being thawed and cooked, their texture and flavor suffer. To check if the resulting potatoes are acceptable to you, blanch them first to inactivate enzymes that cause them to deteriorate.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for when do potatoes go bad? all cool vegetable facts about potatoes then why not take a look at when do women stop growing or why do dogs chase their tails.
Potatoes are one of the most widely consumed and extremely flexible vegetables that can be prepared in a multitude of ways at any time of year.
