Can you get nitrite poisoning if you eat too many parsnips? Yes, but this is a poison you probably can’t afford

What is the most “spring-like” dish? In my case, the answer is tofu with eggs.But one day, my mum suddenly told me mysteriously that there was something different about today’s toon omelette. I took one bite and noticed the oddity of it. The tofu was soft and the fragrance and freshness was not there. Mum said that this was following the advice of a TV show, where the toon sprouts are first soaked in hot water and then cold water before being chopped and fried, which greatly reduces the nitrate content and is healthier. I mechanically put the special omelette in my mouth and chewed it, thinking to myself, “Are these nitrates really that aggressive?” Is this toon really inedible?

Fascinating toon flavour.

The ‘spring smell’ of toon comes from the special volatiles, including terpenes and sesquiterpenes, so it’s a mixture of geranyl, geranyl, acacia, eugenol, camphor and other odorous ingredients. The geraniene in particular possesses a mixture of citrus, camphor and clove aromas. It seems that it is not surprising that you get the sensation of flowers in a toon.

In addition to its special aroma, toon has a special freshness that makes it extremely fresh without the addition of MSG. That’s because toon contains a lot of glutamic acid. Glutamic acid can account for up to 2.6% of the dry matter of a toon, and when combined with the nucleotides in eggs, the taste gain effect of mixing the two gives us that indescribable spring flavour.

Shades of nitrates.

Nitrates have been the enemy of mankind since some time ago, and naturally, toon sprouts, with their high nitrate content, are not exempt from this, hence the special method of soaking in water.

To clarify whether they are toxic or not, we need to sort out the relationship between nitrate, nitrite and ammonium, a family of nitrogen-containing compounds.

Nitrate and ammonium salts are inherently low in toxicity (the acute LD50 for nitrate is 3236 mg/kg, compared to 3000 mg/kg for sodium chloride), so few people are poisoned by exposure to nitrates.

As for nitrates’ little brother, nitrites, they are no good. They can hijack haemoglobin in the body and kill people from lack of oxygen. What’s more worrying is that they combine with amines to form nitrosamines, which are dangerous cancer-causing substances.

The problem is that nitrates turn into nitrites in the human body. Normally, nitrates that are consumed by humans enter the bloodstream through the digestive tract and these nitrates are sent to the salivary glands. With salivary secretion, the nitrates then enter the mouth where a multitude of bacteria reduce the nitrates to nitrites and the trouble turns out to be self-inflicted by the body!

Most of the nitrates enter the digestive tract and start a new cycle, while some are excreted from the body. This is when the restless nitrites come into play, and if the acidity of the stomach goes awry, they can easily combine with amines and eventually turn into powerful carcinogens. This is the most frightening and dangerous aspect of nitrates and nitrites.

That said, nitrites are necessary in small amounts to maintain the microbiological environment of the mouth. It is the presence of nitrites that keeps the harmful anaerobic bacteria at bay. At the same time, many nitrites are further reduced to nitric oxide, which is important for maintaining normal blood pressure in the body. In addition, nitrites do not accumulate in the body.

Can I eat parsnips?

Having understood the dangers of nitrite, let’s turn our attention to parsnips. For plants, both nitrates and nitrites are nutrients, although they both end up in amines that synthesise amino acids and proteins. However, almost all of the nitrogen in the soil is in the form of nitrates, so the toon must take up a lot of nitrates and then use them for reduction in the body; nitrites are only an intermediate stage in the reduction process and do not harm the plant. Nitrite is only an intermediate stage in the reduction process and is not harmful to the plant. A large amount of nitrate usually accumulates in the actively growing parts of the plant to ensure its nutrient supply.

In fact, a 60 kg adult can consume up to 7.8 mg of nitrite according to the maximum intake set by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which is equivalent to eating about 2 kg of tofu. This could be considered an extravagant poisoning, after all, toons usually sell for as much as $100 per kg!

Toons are only available for a limited period of time each year, so if you want to eat them for a longer period of time, you should use the great trick of soaking them in oil. Wash and dry the fresh toon before chopping it finely. Heat the oil in a pan, add the toon and stir-fry slowly over medium heat, adding some fine chilli noodles if you like a spicy flavour. Let the stir-fried toon cool in the pan and then place in a glass jar and seal until the end of summer.

Don’t eat rotten toon.

Take special care to discard any rotten toon as soon as possible, as the bacteria will convert the nitrates in them into nitrites. This can lead to poisoning if eaten. So, don’t be concerned about the toon sprouts.