Can You Still Eat Purple Sweet Potatoes That Have Sprouted? This Article Explains It Clearly

The purple sweet potato looks similar to the common sweet potato. Both its tender stem tips and leaves and its tuberous roots can be eaten. Besides containing the nutrients of ordinary sweet potatoes, it is also rich in selenium and anthocyanins. If you buy some and leave it for too long, it may sprout. So, can you still eat purple sweet potatoes that have sprouted?

Can you still eat purple sweet potatoes that have sprouted?

1. Purple sweet potatoes that have sprouted can still be eaten; they do not produce toxins, but their nutritional value is compromised and their taste declines, so it is best to cut off the sprouted part as soon as possible. If only a little has sprouted, cut off the sprouted part and steam the rest before eating; if a lot has sprouted, it is not recommended to eat it.

2. Many people think that sprouted potatoes cannot be eaten and that purple sweet potatoes are the same. In fact, potatoes belong to the Solanaceae family and produce solanine after sprouting; this toxin is mainly found in plants of the Solanaceae family, which is why they cannot be eaten. Purple sweet potatoes, however, belong to the Convolvulaceae family and do not produce toxins after sprouting, so they can be eaten.

3. Purple sweet potatoes have a fairly high starch content. During sprouting, enzymes that break down starch are produced, and toxins can be produced during the breakdown process. Sprouted purple sweet potatoes also mold and rot easily, and eating them can easily lead to poisoning, so be careful.

4. After a purple sweet potato sprouts, its nutrients are largely transferred to the area around the young shoots to support their growth. At this point the purple sweet potato becomes soft, loses its sweetness, and carries a slight smell of raw sweet potato leaves, making it unsuitable to eat.

5. If you do not want it to sprout, pay attention to how you store it. It needs to be kept in a dark, dry environment. So, after buying purple sweet potatoes, sun them for half a day first to remove some moisture, then put them in a dry cardboard box and place it in a dark, dry spot.

6. If a sprouted purple sweet potato cannot be eaten but you do not want to throw it away, you can plant it: first, cut the mouth of a plastic bottle evenly, put the sprouted purple sweet potato in, pour in water to submerge half of it, place it in a sunny spot, and change the water every day. Once it grows fine roots and young shoots, transplant it into soil; once it grows many leaves, you can pinch off the young shoots to eat.