Food - Drink
How Long Can You Store Potatoes On The Counter
By CHRIS SANDS
Potatoes don’t like sunlight, but they don’t like the too cool refrigerator either, as it turns potato starches into sugars. If properly stored in cool, dark, and humid places like cellars or pantries, potatoes can last for up to two months — whereas potatoes stored at room temperature will last for only about two weeks.
While sunlight causes potatoes to develop bitter-tasting and toxic green spots on their skin, they don’t like too much moisture either. Unless you perforate plastic bags to let the potatoes breathe and get rid of moisture, keeping them well-ventilated in a mesh or paper bag is preferred.
Potatoes gain the energy needed to sprout when starches are converted into sugar, with the ideal temperature for them to sprout being above 70 degrees. This means storing potatoes on your counter at room temperature is encouraging accelerated spoilage.
Sprouting causes increased levels of glycoalkaloid compounds like solanine and chaconine, which are toxic. For safety's sake, it's best to avoid eating sprouted potatoes, as well as moldy potatoes, since these can contain lethal levels of solanine.