The expert named the risks of eating overripe vegetables.

Eating overripe vegetables carries serious health risks. About this on January 8 in an interview with "Gazeta.Ru," said Ksenia Kuznetsova, senior lecturer at the Department of Food Safety at Rosbiotech University.

"The violation of the integrity of the peel and softening of the tissues of an overripe fruit opens the way for phytopathogenic mold fungi of the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium and Alternaria. Many of these fungi are producers of mycotoxins, highly toxic secondary metabolites with carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, and immunosuppressive effects," she said.

It is also noted that aflatoxins (produced by A. flavus, A. parasiticus) are among the most dangerous. One of their risks is to provoke liver cancer due to the powerful hepatotoxic carcinogenic effect. Aflatoxins are most commonly found in grains and nuts, but they can also appear in other foods.

A neurotoxin, the potential carcinogen patulin (produced by P. expansum), is also dangerous. It is most typical for overripe pears, apples and stone fruits. It is resistant to heat treatment and does not break down during the pasteurization process.

"It's important! Toxigenic fungi are able to penetrate hyphae deep into the fetal tissue. Therefore, cutting off the damaged area does not guarantee safety — toxins can already be diffused into visually healthy parts," the specialist warned.

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Earlier, on December 18, Kuznetsova called the dangerous consequences of storing olivier outside the refrigerator. Microorganisms develop rapidly in olivier salad when it is in a temperature zone above +5 degrees, which leads to spoilage and the risk of poisoning. She added that the fat emulsion in the salad is stratified, which worsens the consistency and can contribute to the development of microorganisms.

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