smith78:

I refer to peeling potatoes because of the solanine and chaconine, but I don't specifically call out apoptosis as a scary thing...all I do is link to the Wikipedia article about solanine.  Perhaps you're referring to some other article?

Solanine is a defense mechanism for the potato.  It's a pesticide, a fungicide, and it's poisonous to humans in sufficiently large doses. 

That being said, it's difficult to produce acute solanine poisoning without eating lots of improperly stored potatoes (or the leaves and stems of the potato plant), and the commonly eaten varieties of potato, such as Russets, are quite low in solanine.  (The worst offender is generally the Snowden, often found in potato chips!)  But since solanine and chaconine have no known nutritional benefit, I figure it's smarter to simply peel my potatoes.

Keep in mind that there are many "paleo" sources that claim we shouldn't eat potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, or other nightshade-family fruits and tubers at all!  But as a functional paleo eater and proponent, I see no reason to exclude them except for allergies or other sensitivities.

JS