If you are going to eat sweet potatoes, you should boil them well before consuming them, since raw they contain dioscorin, a plant toxin that is harmful to the central nervous system. Find out what its effects are and how it is possible to eliminate it for safer consumption.
There are certain foods that, despite being extremely healthy, healthy and adequate within a varied and balanced diet, it is essential to increase precautions when cooking and consuming them.
A good example is the green potato, or more specifically and to be precise, those potatoes that have some greenish areas, since it is an indication of solanine content, a toxic substance that the potato produces to defend itself against insects and fungi.
In the particular case of the sweet potato, it is – it is true – a food extremely rich in beta-carotene and other vitamins, such as vitamin C. It is useful when it comes to increasing defenses, as well as being useful for prevent cardiovascular diseases due to its high antioxidant content. As with potatoes, it is a food with a high content of complex carbohydrates, which helps to gradually provide energy to our body, therefore recommended to maintain blood sugar levels.
However, it is not advisable to eat raw sweet potato, as it contains dioscorin, an alkaloid-type plant toxin with action on the central nervous system, which can cause seizures, depression, and delusions, being actually very toxic.
Therefore, before consuming it in the kitchen and especially in order to destroy the dioscorin it is necessary -and essential- to boil it well before. In fact, its dioscorin content is so high that toxicity is manifested even in normal food consumption.
What is dioscorin and how can we remove it from sweet potato?
Dioscorin is a truly toxic plant-based toxin. It basically consists of an alkaloid compound, which we find present above all in foods such as sweet potatoes and sweet potatoes in high concentrations.
It is present especially when these foods are consumed raw, hence its cooking is essential to be able to eliminate it completely, since this toxin is destroyed by the action of heat.
For this reason, we find this toxin mainly in raw sweet potatoes and sweet potatoes, and its consumption in this way is not advisable even when it is in small portions or doses. And it is that its effects -and toxicity- can manifest itself even when its consumption is minimal or moderate.
In order to destroy the dioscorin, therefore, it is enough to cook the or sweet potato at a high temperature in very hot water for at least 30 minutes. And we will know that they are ready when, when pierced with a fork, they are completely tender. In this way we will be sure that the toxin has completely disappeared.
