Natural Toxins in Some Plant Foods That Aren't Prepared Properly

Many vegetables contain toxins that can be dangerous when eaten raw or undercooked. To best protect your family's health and your own, limit raw and undercooked foods. That's why home cooks need to know the essentials about food to avoid poisoning themselves and others. Below, VN Cooking introduces the vegetables and plant foods that contain toxins harmful to health if not cooked thoroughly.

1. Soy milk

Raw soybeans contain toxic compounds. When soy milk is heated to about 80°C, the saponins in the soybeans expand in the heat and foam rises to the surface, causing a "false boil". Drinking it at this point can cause poisoning, usually 0.5 – 1 hour after consumption, with symptoms mainly affecting the digestive tract.

To prevent poisoning from raw soy milk, heat it to 100 °C; it is then safe to drink.

2. Cassava (tapioca root)

Cassava contains plenty of starch, which is good for you. However, raw cassava contains cyanogenic glucosides, which produce highly toxic hydrogen cyanide. Eating raw, unprocessed cassava can harm your health or even be fatal.

To be safe, always boil cassava thoroughly before eating. While boiling, lift the lid several times to let the toxins evaporate.

3. Fresh wood ear mushrooms

Fresh wood ear mushrooms contain porphyrin, a light-sensitive substance. If your skin is exposed to light after eating fresh wood ear mushrooms, it can cause dermatitis, itching and swelling, and in severe cases skin necrosis.

So to protect your health, don't eat wood ear mushrooms fresh.

4. Eggplant

Eggplant contains solanine, a substance that can reduce the body's ability to absorb calcium. However, eggplant contains only low levels of solanine, and eating normal amounts of cooked eggplant does not cause poisoning. Always cook it thoroughly before eating.

5. Bamboo shoots

Fresh bamboo shoots contain a cyanogenic glycoside (taxiphyllin), which can release toxic cyanide if eaten raw or not boiled thoroughly.

To be safe, slice freshly picked bamboo shoots thinly and blanch them in boiling water. Once the water is boiling, leave the lid off so the toxins can evaporate, boil thoroughly, change the water a few times and discard the cooking water.

6. Mushrooms

Some edible mushrooms, such as shiitake, can cause indigestion or dermatitis in sensitive people if eaten raw or undercooked.

When cooking mushroom dishes, make sure they're fully cooked and never eaten raw or undercooked, as this can affect your health and your family's.

7. Green tomatoes

Like sprouted potatoes, green tomatoes contain tomatine (an alkaloid similar to solanine), which is only harmful in large amounts.

So avoid eating large amounts of green, bitter tomatoes; ripe tomatoes are perfectly safe to eat raw.

Thank you for reading this article from VN Cooking. We hope you've gained some useful knowledge from it.