Nicotine has long been demonised as the addictive chemical in tobacco products, but did you know it is also present in common items on your shopping list including tomatoes and eggplants.
Not only is it found in everyday groceries, it also is known to have potential health benefits as opposed to the negative effects associated with smoking.
Aside from these two common dinner recipe ingredients, other examples of nicotine-containing plants include cauliflower and papaya plants.
Some belong to the nightshade family, which naturally contain low amounts of nicotine, but there are others outside of this family that can contain nicotine too.
According to sciencing.com, one of the reasons that plants may produce nicotine is as a defense mechanism against predators.
One Irish staple - potatoes - is also among the nicotine-containing plants, but the amount of the chemical present is reportedly minuscule.
According to the experts, most of the nicotine in potatoes is concentrated in the flesh and not the potato skin, meanwhile, green tomatoes contain about ten times more nicotine than ripe tomatoes.
Eggplant contains one of the highest concentrations of nicotine: 100 nanograms, or 0.1 micrograms, according to experts.
During studies at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, researchers found plants with little to no nicotine were more quickly eaten by insects than those that contained it.
Early insecticides were also often known to contain nicotine as one of their common ingredients.
According to Medical News Today, people who eat food containing nicotine could see benefits such as heightened protection from Parkinson's disease.
Preliminary research shows that dietary nicotine can potentially lower the risk of developing Parkinson's - however more research is needed to confirm this as a fact.
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