In article ,
Rod wrote:
On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 18:55:18 +0000 (UTC), wrote:

Digging up my blighted potatoe patch I find that only about 1/3 are
obviously affected .

Is it safe to eat those which appear to be free of the blight ?

If they appear free of blight. then they are free of blight and fit to
eat. ... - your nose is the best tool for
this. Once you know what a blighted spud smells like, it's a smell you
won't forget and you'll be able to detect a single bad one in a bag.

Right on.

iirc there were some medical problems with blighted spuds in WW2, I
think these were mostly in relation to pregnant women but you need to
check the facts - don't rely on my blighted memory.

Actually, mainly in Ireland in the 19th century, but the rest of your
memory remains unblighted. When looking up about Physalis species
(ask if you dare), I found some evidence that even pregnant women
aren't as much at risk as used to be believed.

The evidence was that some of the alkaloids (e.g. solanin) are known
to be teratogenic (causing malformation of the foetus), but that a
'defending' chemical is vitamin C. Now, one of the first effects
of blight on a potato tuber is to reduce its vitamin C content, and
the Irish of that era got most of their vitamin C from potatoes.

So it is POSSIBLE that blighted potatoes are dangerous only to
pregnant women who are also not eating enough vitamin C. But, to
be safe, don't let any woman between 6 and 60[*] eat any that you
think might be blighted :-)
[*] Don't ask me why that is the conventional range, but it is.
Or at least was, back in the 1960s. Nowadays, given the effect of
various hormone pills, 7 to 70 would probably be more reliable.
Oh, for a reference, try Doctor at Sea.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.