Carrots sprouting roots in the fridge

G

greenberg

until the end of the world
Registered Senior Member
Hi there.


A couple of weeks back, I bought a 2 pound package of fresh carrots and put it in the fridge. I'm not a terrible fan of vegetables, so I'm not eating them very avidly. (The package in the fridge is half open, so air is inside.)

It turns out that in the meantime, the carrots started sprouting roots! Some of the smaller carrots dried up; some started to rot; and the majority is sprouting roots.

Is there anything wrong with those carrots that started sprouting?
I tried some of the sprouting carrots. I peeled off the skin and the roots. Those carrots only seem to taste more bland, but otherwise, seem fine.

I've heard that potatoes, once they start sprouting, aren't edible anymore because their chemical composition changes (even though they still look fine otherwise). :confused:
 
I should have added that with potatoes the eyes are poisonous, so if you have a lot of roots and not much potato there is little point in cutting all the roots off and eating the rest.
 
greenberg said:
Hi there.


A couple of weeks back, I bought a 2 pound package of fresh carrots and put it in the fridge. I'm not a terrible fan of vegetables, so I'm not eating them very avidly. (The package in the fridge is half open, so air is inside.)

It turns out that in the meantime, the carrots started sprouting roots! Some of the smaller carrots dried up; some started to rot; and the majority is sprouting roots.

Is there anything wrong with those carrots that started sprouting?
I tried some of the sprouting carrots. I peeled off the skin and the roots. Those carrots only seem to taste more bland, but otherwise, seem fine.

I've heard that potatoes, once they start sprouting, aren't edible anymore because their chemical composition changes (even though they still look fine otherwise). :confused:
Click to expand...


they are ok to eat just make sure that you wash them and peal them properly
 
Orleander said:
they're poisonous? How many would you have to eat to become ill?
Click to expand...

Yeah. If the potatoes skin is green or turns green or they start to sprout, don't bother eating them. And don't give them to small children either.

You'd have to eat a lot of green coloured potatoes to get sick, but it's not something you'd want to take a risk with. Especially with small children or babies.

Potato plants and tubers contain the toxic glycoalkaloids, alpha-solanine, and alpha-chaconine, which act as cholinesterase inhibitors. When tubers are exposed to light, chlorophyll along with the glycoalkaloids are synthesized. The amount of glycoalkaloids formed depends on exposure length, intensity and light quality (mostly ultraviolet), and temperature; little is synthesized at temperatures below 41°F. These compounds taste bitter, and ingestion can cause illness and death in extreme cases; toxicity depends on the amount ingested. Mechanical injury also induces the formation of these substances.
Normally, the highest amounts of glycoalkaloids are found in tissues with high metabolic activity such as sprouts and flowers. The content in foliage and stems is higher than in tubers. The tuber skin has the highest glycoalkaloid concentration; peeling removes most but not all of it. Mature tubers contain 2-6 mg glycoalkaloid/100 g fresh weight. The content is high early in tuber development; small immature tubers have the highest glycoalkaloid (14-28 mg/100 g) levels. Heat does not destroy these substances, although some can be leached during boiling.

http://www.uga.edu/vegetable/potato.html
Click to expand...
 
Usually, when carrots start spouting roots, it's because they have entered their shedding phase. It's during this phase that the carrot attempts to reproduce by overpowering a living host with it's root system, and infecting the hosts tissue.
The symptoms of carrot infection are commonly large blisters with grow to enormous size, and burst - releasing thousands of baby carrots.

Carrot infection is lethal in 99.99% of people who contract it. You should dispose of any dry, rotten, or plain tasting carrots whenever you see roots


baby-carrots2.jpg

Here is a bag of highly infectious baby carrots after having been surgically removed from one of the wounds of a terminal patient
 
BTW (on a more serious note)--- I was unable to find anything about stored carrots becoming poisonous. The closest I found was about "poisonous species of carrot".

I seem to recall my grandmother mentioning the ends of the carrot being harmful due to a type of fungus (the tip, and the end next to the stalk).......however, I think that was a myth
 
Orleander said:
where do carrot seeds come from?
Click to expand...

In early use, carrots were grown for their aromatic leaves and seeds, not their roots. Some relatives of the carrot are still grown for these, such as parsley, fennel, dill and cumin. The first mention of the root in classical sources is in the 1st century CE. The modern carrot appears to have been introduced to Europe in the 8-10th centuries
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top