When are sprouts toxic?

“Springs have 3-5 times higher nutritional value than regular vegetables. However, not all sprouts are good and harmless. In addition, if not processed properly, they can be toxic,” said Dr. Phan Quoc Kinh, Director of the Institute of Functional Food Research.

Sprouts also pose a risk of toxicity because they may have been treated with chemicals that cannot be detected by the naked eye. Photo: TL

Not all sprouts are good.

Talking to PV of Family and Society Newspaper, Dr. Phan Quoc Kinh - Director of the Institute of Functional Food Research, who has many years of research on sprout growing technology, said that sprouts are grown from popular seeds such as: radish, green mustard, green beans, red beans, white beans, sweet cabbage, water spinach, alfalfa, black sesame, amaranth... This is a type of vegetable with very high nutritional value.

However, Dr. Phan Quoc Kinh emphasized that if the cultivation technique is not guaranteed, sprouts are not as clean as people think because they can be contaminated with bacteria. To grow sprouts, people must use growing media such as: coconut fiber, chopped straw, chopped white corn cobs. These growing media must be sterilized. If not sterilized to kill bacteria and mold in hot, humid conditions with little sunlight, sprouts will be susceptible to mold and bacteria such as E.coli... Soil and sand sprouts can also contain many heavy metals or high nitrate content. Water for sprouts also needs clean water, rice washing water should not be used and reusing sprouts can cause bacteria to increase.

Clean sprouts also need clean seeds. Sprouts cannot be clean when the seeds are "dirty". There are also floating seeds on the market. This type has a very high risk of being toxic because it may have been treated with chemicals that we cannot see with the naked eye. "In addition, not all sprouts are good and harmless. The biological properties of seeds can lead to the risk of poisoning. For example, eating potato sprouts containing the toxic substance solanine, old bean sprouts containing the toxic substances sapo glucoside and trypsin... can cause poisoning. Mild symptoms can include nausea, stomachache, diarrhea... severe symptoms can be life-threatening", said Dr. Phan Quoc Kinh.

Currently, many people believe that it is safe to use normal vegetable seeds to make sprouts. However, Dr. Ngo Quang Vinh - former Deputy Director of the Southern Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, believes that this should not be done. According to Dr. Ngo Quang Vinh, in principle, to protect seeds and avoid damage from fungi and insects, when storing, seed producers often have to disinfect by soaking or mixing seeds with pesticides. While sprouts are usually harvested in about 7 - 10 days and are sown at very high density, only watered in sealed trays, without wastewater, so the possibility of pesticide residues in sprouts grown with pesticide-treated seeds can exceed the allowable level. Each type of pesticide needs a certain amount of time to decompose (usually about a week in outdoor conditions, with light and high temperature), while sprouts grown in cool, low-light conditions, the time for pesticide decomposition must be longer. People often eat it raw, which can be harmful to their health.

Don't eat too much

Dr. Phan Quoc Kinh said that normally, every 100g of sprouts will have the same nutritional content as 1.5kg of normal vegetables. It contains many vitamins, fiber and minerals necessary for the body. Thanks to that, this vegetable helps to improve resistance, slow down the aging process, and smooth the skin. The high fiber content also helps people to easily digest, absorb and metabolize complex substances.

Some types of sprouts, in addition to being used as food, also have medicinal functions, such as broccoli sprouts, which contain sulforaphane, which is very good for health and has antioxidant effects, preventing cancer-causing cells in the human body.

Although sprouts are very good, you should not eat too much. Each person only needs to eat a small amount of sprouts, equal to 1/10 - 2/10 of mature vegetables. For example, if you eat 500g of mature vegetables every day, you should only eat 50g of sprouts every day. Sprouts should not be eaten as a complete replacement for mature vegetables, but should be eaten between meals of mature vegetables. You should only use sprouts that have been proven to be edible, such as white radish sprouts, peanut sprouts, soybean sprouts, cauliflower, spinach, etc. And you should eat cooked sprouts because the chemicals (if any) in sprouts can be destroyed or greatly reduced if the vegetables are cooked.

Experts advise that, to ensure the safety of seed selection, you should go to reputable addresses that sell seeds and clearly state your need to buy seeds for sprouts, not for normal planting so that the seller can give you the right ones and the buyer can buy the right ones. Or, go to places that specialize in sprout production to buy, the seeds are carefully packaged with full information about the manufacturer. It is best to go to district and county agricultural extension centers.

Sprouts should not be left for too long, only used within 24 hours. For families who grow sprouts using super clean vegetable growing machines that are widely sold on the market, remember to change the water in the machine's water tank every day and clean it because the risk of contamination is very high because the machine's environment is easily contaminated with bacteria, the water will have a foul smell. In particular, the machine has a lid to reduce the contact of seeds with the outside environment, avoiding contamination, so you should limit opening the lid.

According to Giadinh.net