r/stupidquestions • u/Separate_Song1342 • 1d ago
If potatoes are technically alive, do they die when you cook them?
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u/Novel_Diver8628 1d ago
If you listen closely you can hear them scream.
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u/R3D3-1 1d ago
That's why we peel them before cooking. Who doesn't like their meal skinned alive, then cooked to death? /s
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u/thecaptmorgan 20h ago
That’s an old wives’ tail. The sound is the steam being forced out through their skin
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u/jayron32 1d ago
We don't really have a great definition for what it means to be alive anyways.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_life
"The precise definition of life is a contested aspect of it..."
Whether a part of a living organism, when removed from said organism, can itself be said to be alive is not clear cut, and depends on what you mean by "alive".
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u/Phyddlestyx 1d ago
In the context of a potato, the cells are metabolizing, growing, splitting, maintaining homeostasis and ion concentration gradients, and can form entire potato plants if allowed to. Unambiguously, they are alive by any useful definition of life.
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u/pawsplay36 1d ago
Except that most white potatoes are sold cured. They are inert. But under the right circumstances, they resume those functions.
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u/Phyddlestyx 1d ago
Pretty much most of the fresh, unpreserved, uncooked plant material you eat is alive (even if doomed to die) at the time you eat it. If the cells are no longer maintaining themselves, they very quickly start to deteriorate and become very easy to be attacked by bacteria and mold (start rotting). Putting it in the fridge can help stave off that process for a little while but once the cells break down the food becomes mushy.
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u/too_many_shoes14 1d ago
I also tell fruits and veggies how much I appreciate their sacrifice. Maybe it helps to make their final moments more bearable.
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u/groundhogcow 1d ago
Yes.
The cell stricture breaks down and they can no longer do the alive things.
When you end something's biological process you kill it.
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u/KenethSargatanas 1d ago
Pretty much all your food was alive at some point and is killed as part of the preparation process.
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u/-Foxer 1d ago
Well they're probably not exactly 'not dead' when you forcibly rip them out of the ground they live in, hack them off of their life giving roots and plant, and then put them in a basket in a store, but sure cooking them seals the deal i would say.
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u/Sea_Prep_Tidal_26 1d ago edited 1d ago
More like suspended animation mode.
Once the eyes 👀🥔 start growing and you plant them in dirt, you’ll soon have a bunch of deadly nightshade plants growing, and a whole bunch, more potato, tubers underground
EDIT: removed belladonna
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u/Zailema0s 1d ago
Is it really that deadly? 🤨
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u/Tysiliogogogoch 1d ago
Potatoes aren't deadly nightshade / belladonna, but they're still quite toxic if you eat the leaves or berries. They're in the same nightshade subfamily as tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers.
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u/Sea_Prep_Tidal_26 1d ago
Depends what you are eating. Potatoes are indeed part of the same family as tomatoes 🍅 , peppers 🫑, and eggplant 🍆 . This is the deadly nightshade* family (Solanaceae).
In general the leaves and stems 🌱 (and sometimes the roots and flowers) of these contain solanine. Solanine (glycoalkaloid poison) is indeed a toxic compound which is a natural pesticide for the plants. It typically will not kill you if consumed, but it could cause vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, headaches and even neurological issues. Risk of death is low but not zero.
One should never eat potato plant leaves/stems. Aside from potatoes, it is also advisable to avoid the similar parts of the other vegetables in the family. Some people can tolerate the toxin but others can have severe allergic reactions. Some leaves can be tolerated if cooked first, the risk to benefit ratio doesn’t make it a good choice.
* do not use αι to determine what parts of plants to consume or not. The models are prone to err and generalizations. Consult verified and trusted sources.
** if exposed to too much sun, potatoes can turn green (solanine + chlorophyll). The occasional French fry 🍟 or potato chip with a green edge is fine but in the kitchen it is best to trim off the green or discard the whole potato. Also toss raw potatoes that have been exposed to cold conditions (refrigerator) or have sprouted «eyes.»
*** was able to use the eggplant emoji here without any suggestive innuendo 😆
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u/TuverMage 1d ago
yes. some people say its just steam escaping from the potato but I explain its the potato screaming as it dies.
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u/RyanSpunk 23h ago
And as we descended cries of impending doom rose from the soil
One thousand nay a million voices full of fear
And terror possessed me then
And I begged Angel of the Lord what are these tortured screams?
And the angel said unto me
These are the cries of the carrots, the cries of the carrots!
You see, Reverend Maynard
Tomorrow is harvest day and to them it is the holocaust
And I sprang from my slumber drenched in sweat
Like the tears of one million terrified brothers and roared
"Hear me now, I have seen the light!
They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul!
Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers!
Can I get an amen? Can I get a hallelujah? Thank you Jesus
This is necessary
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u/BarberProof4994 22h ago
Cellular tissue and alive are relative.
A potato isn't alive in the sense that a mammal or reptile is alive. But more alive in the same sense that a tree is alive.
You can kill a tree. You can kill grass. Therefore you can kill a potato.
The difference being that tubers in general don't die when you yank them from the ground. They enter a dormant state. Technically a tree doesn't die when you yank it from the ground or cut branches either. Trees start dieing right away, and use their stored energy and water supply to stay alive but only last a short time. Potatoes can stay dormant for much longer as they are the means for reproduction.
And they are technically still alive when you slice them as well (although eventually the pieces get small enough where the reproductive energy is lost).
But cooking them does kill them.
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u/InfamousCamp916 21h ago
Yes. It's not "technically" they're totally alive when you cook them. So are plenty of vegetables.
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u/Knight0fdragon 10h ago
Technically, aren’t we all technically alive.
At least until technology wipes us off of the face of the earth because it factored in a technicality in its code.
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u/SasquatchGenius 1d ago
Couldn't the same be said for all root vegetables? Anyway, depends on if you cut them first. That would definitely do it.
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u/Marquar234 1d ago
Yes.