New potatoes have a thin and delicate skin that is edible and tasty. That's why gourmets simply leave them on the tuber when cooking. But is it really always healthy for us if the potatoes are only thoroughly cleaned?

Only organic potatoes should be eaten with their skins on

Thin and edible skin

Early potato varieties form tubers with a wafer-thin skin. This does not interfere with eating, quite the opposite. Gourmets even prefer to leave them on because they like the tuber better that way.

Preserve valuable ingredients

Most of the healthy ingredients are located directly below the potato skin, which unfortunately are largely removed when peeling generously. This is also a reason that speaks for leaving the skin on the tuber.

Tubers from conventional cultivation

Conventionally grown tubers could have invisible substances on the skin that are not good for our health. For example::

  • crop protection products
  • Germ and mold treatment agents

Even after thorough washing, there are still remnants of it. These tubers should be peeled before eating. In order to preserve as many nutrients as possible, this should only be done after cooking. Then the shell can be peeled off thinner.

Own organic cultivation

If you grow your own tubers, you know exactly how they grew. If you only used compost and didn't use any chemicals either, you don't have to worry. If you like the skin, then you can eat it.

Brush off thoroughly

Potatoes, as potatoes are also called in some regions, are more or less contaminated with soil residues after harvesting. The skin of the tubers must be thoroughly cleaned under running water with a vegetable brush before preparation.

Toxic solanine

Potatoes could also contain the substance solanine, which is toxic to us humans. If large amounts of it enter our body, nausea, vomiting and headaches are the consequences.

Green patches on the peel are usually a sign of a high concentration of this toxin. But even shells that do not show a clear green color could still contain solanine. In the case of very thin, not yet properly formed skins of the new potatoes, however, this is hardly to be feared.

Category:

Vegetable garden