Now potatoes have firmly entered the national cuisine of Russia, and of other countries. It is hard to imagine that against the introduction of this root crop whole national riots arose. It seems: what did the peasants have against delicious potatoes? Why didn’t they thank Tsar Peter the Great, who brought the plant to Russia? The fact is that planting potatoes was introduced by order, and explanatory work was not carried out. Peasants ate and fed ground parts of the plant to livestock. And as a result, they were ill and even died. The death of cattle, the death of people - and for this it was necessary to give the sown area for potatoes? Naturally, this led to riots. But the government instead of explanatory work suppressed unrest with the help of troops. The last riots took place in Russia in the 1840s. And the cause of frequent poisoning was the substance corned beef. The meaning of the word, a description of the action of the component on the body, is given in this article.
Corned beef and corned beef: etymology of terms
The Slavs salivate with these words close in sound. Still would! Who doesn't like corned beef? The meat (beef, pork, lard), harvested for future use, helped out during the hungry winter time. Previously, in every peasant's house there was corned beef, any housewife knew the recipe for pickling. When the animal was slaughtered, most of the carcass remained. How to store meat when there were no refrigerators and freezers? It was cut into pieces and dipped in salt. There it was kept for a long period. Tasty meat was then removed and soaked in fresh water as needed. The salt went away and the beef was eaten.
The word "corned beef" has Slavic roots and comes from "salt". This is due to the cooking method. And what is corned beef, what is the etymology of this word? It comes from Latin. Solanum is a nightshade. And the substance corned beef accumulates in all plants of this family. Therefore, nightshade are considered poisonous.
What is corned beef
Some plants are able to protect themselves from pests. They accumulate glycoalkaloid glycoside in their tissues. This toxic organic compound was called solanine, since its highest concentration is observed in the nightshade family. The leader of toxicity is Solanum dulcamara. In bittersweet, all parts are toxic - the roots, stems, and leaves, and fruits. A lethal portion of corned beef is found in unripe berries. Black nightshade is also a poisonous plant. But what is corned beef and how does this substance affect the body? It causes a sharp excitation of the nervous system, and then its rapid inhibition. Red blood cells decompose. Poisoning is manifested by nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, headache, diarrhea, dilated pupils, disorientation, and fever. In severe cases, convulsions, coma are observed.
Corned beef in potato
The nightshade family is quite extensive and includes many species of plants. Do you know what the scientific name of our "second bread" is potatoes? Nightshade tuberous! So it is not surprising that peasants who did not know how to eat potatoes were often poisoned by the ground parts of the plant. Especially a lot of poisonous corned beef in berries. But even then, when the peasants began to eat potato tubers, poisoning continued to happen. Why? If the root crop is kept in the light, it begins to accumulate corned beef. Especially a lot of toxic substance accumulates in the peel, in green areas. But peeling and heat treatment of tubers reduce the content of corned beef in potatoes at times. Even in a raw root crop without a peel, only five percent of the initial amount of the substance remains.
Corned beef in other foods
Tomatoes belong to the nightshade family. But with tomatoes, the situation is simpler. Corned beef accumulates only in unripe fruits, small and green. As soon as the tomato grows to the size of its variety and turns white, the concentration of the toxic substance in it decreases sharply. Such a fruit can already be salted or pickled. But in ripe red tomatoes there is no toxic substance. “Solanum Melongena” - under this scientific name hides the eggplant known to all. He, it turns out, is also a nightshade. But the poisonous substance corned beef leaves with bitterness, if you cut the eggplant, salt it, crush it with oppression and leave it for ten minutes. All toxins will go away with the excreted juice. By the way, unlike tomatoes, the concentration of corned beef in eggplant increases as the berries ripen. Young fruits are edible.
How to choose potatoes
How to use corned beef, we know. We are also aware that you cannot eat shoots and berries in potatoes. But do we know how to grow such root crops in which there would be an insignificant amount of solanine? Potatoes need to be planted deeply and spud a bush. Then the sun's rays do not penetrate deeper and the roots do not turn green. Do not plant potatoes in sandy soil - this will increase the concentration of corned beef. Young juicy tubers are very tasty. And you will probably be upset by the information that they have more toxic substances than potatoes harvested in the fall. Vegetables in general can not be stored for a long time. But potatoes - that’s especially so. The concentration of corned beef in sprouted and greened tubers increases four times. At the store, pick undamaged potatoes.
Poisoning treatment
We already know what corned beef is and that they can be seriously poisoned. Potato varieties have now been bred in which the concentration of this substance is extremely low. Therefore, cases of poisoning have become rare. Light signs of intoxication are possible when eating a kilogram of untreated young and raw tubers. Poisoning of animals is much more common, especially those who like to eat potato peelings (rabbits, guinea pigs, less often dogs and cats). What to do at the first symptoms of intoxication? You need to immediately do a gastric lavage, give tablets of activated carbon and a laxative. This is first aid. As soon as possible you need to contact a specialist. Perhaps intravenous rehydration is required, which can only be done in a hospital (or veterinary clinic).
Is solanin so dangerous?
To answer this question, one should think about why plants of the nightshade family accumulate this substance in themselves. Solanine has insecticidal and fungicidal properties. Thus, the plant is protected from pests. And since in nature the difference between poison and medicine is only in dosage, why not turn the properties of solanine to good? Traditional medicine gives us many recipes for treating potatoes. The solanine contained in it perfectly heals purulent wounds, eliminates boils, softens and soothes the skin in case of burns. To do this, rub the raw tuber on a fine grater, and put the pulp with a few drops of vegetable oil into a gauze compress. Candles for hemorrhoids are made from raw potatoes. Juice squeezed from tubers is a mild laxative, diuretic, antimicrobial and painkiller. Coughing helps inhalation of steam of freshly boiled potatoes.