On 7/29/05 12:13 PM, in article , "Martin
Brown" wrote:

Sounds like lycopene from the tomatoes or another carotenoid from the
foliage. Mild oxidation will then remove the color (benzoyl peroxide
acne cream; Oxy-Clean, dilute bleach), as will electrophiles (skunk
juice). Why don't you wear gloves?

Not necessary unless you are sensitised. The neutral/acid form is
colourless and the alkaline soap form is very water soluble and an
interesting shade of yellow not dissimilar to fluorosene in colour but
without the obvious UV glow. Vegetable acid/base indicator dye.

The smell is also distinctive and I suspect it is a quite bit more toxic
than the fruit - solanaceae are not to be messed with. You can eat
tomatoes and potatoes but the rest of the plant is a really bad idea.
And related species include some extremely toxic plants.

I have some more experimental data.

Certainly, my hands do have that tomato plant like smell after handling.

This last time, I did more foliage removal and staking. I washed my hands
and got the same yellow color from using soap. I again got a sink full of
yellow water. This time, I took a flake of potassium hydroxide and added to
the sink. The color of the sink water became much deeper. So, does that
describe solanin well enough to make solanin the likely candidate?

Bill