Potatoes cortex

The potato is a swollen underground stem or tuber that contains a store of food for the plants. In the tuber a bud end and a stem end can be distinguished. The hollows, called eyes, are spirally arranged around the tuber surface. The tuber section is divided into the pith, parenchyma, vascular system, cortex, and periderm (Figure 2.6). 

The neurotoxicity of acrylamide in humans is well known from occupational and accidental exposures [51], For instance, Calleman et al. [52] reported peripheral neuropathy symptoms to highly exposed workers in China. It is characterized by skeletal muscle weakness, numbness of hands and feet, and ataxia. Acrylamide has been shown to be toxic to both the central and the peripheral nervous system [53], although the nerve terminal is now considered to be the primary site of acrylamide action [54,55]. Acrylamide induces nerve terminal degeneration and has effects on the cerebral cortex, thalamus, and hippocampus [56]. In double-blind studies of factory workers, no neurotoxicity was found in workers exposed to less than 3.0 mg/kg/ day as determined by biomonitoring [55]. A very recent study demonstrates structural and ultra structural evidence of neurotoxic effects of fried potato chips on rat postnatal development. 

TPN can be dephosphorylated to DPN by phosphatases present in crude yeast juice and potato extract. Recently the activity has been purified 450-fold from extracts of pig kidney cortex. The properties of the purified enzjune resemble those of alkaline phosphatase, and it splits other nucleotides than TPN. Also, highly purified preparations of alkaline phosphatase are very active in converting TPN to DPN. The question remains open as to whether or not a specific enzyme exists which catalyzes this reaction. 

---