GA levels in potatoes can becontrolled effectively

Tag : green food
Symptoms generally occur eight or 12 hours after ingestion and caninclude gastrointestinal disturbances and neurological disorders.

Mild symptoms include headaches, dizziness, abdominal pain, nausea,vomiting and diarrhoea. Other symptoms can include restlessness,drowsiness and mental confusion, trembling and hallucination butbecause the symptoms are common to a whole host of other ailments,mistaken diagnoses can occur.

The study also suggests that GA levels in potatoes can becontrolled effectively by adopting appropriate pre-harvest andpost-harvest practices - and therefore farmers and producers can domuch to reduce the public risks of GAs.

Some measures include keeping tubers well covered with soil duringgrowth, allowing them to mature before harvesting, avoiding harvestat very high temperatures and minimising exposure to light.

GAs are a naturally occurring toxic substance in potatoes that haveantimicrobial, insecticidal and fungicidal properties whichprobably evolved as a protective mechanism against invasion byforeign bodies to protect the plant against pests and disease.

The report appeared in the latest online issue of SCI's Journal ofthe Science of Food and Agriculture (JSFA).