Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effect of different cooking methods on the content of vitamins and true retention in selected vegetables

  • Published:
Food Science and Biotechnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of different cooking methods including blanching, boiling, microwaving and steaming on the content of vitamins in vegetables. True retention was estimated using the yield expressed as a ratio of the weight of the cooked sample to the weight of the raw sample. The retention of vitamin C ranged from 0.0 to 91.1% for all cooked samples. Generally, higher retention of vitamin C was observed after microwaving with the lowest retention recorded after boiling. Cooked vegetables were occasionally higher contents of fat-soluble vitamins, including α-tocopherol and β-carotene, than that of their fresh counterparts, but it depends on the type of vegetables. Microwave cooking caused the greatest loss of vitamin K in crown daisy and mallow; in contrast, it caused the least loss of vitamin K in spinach and chard. Cooking may cause changes to the contents of vitamins, but it depends on vegetables and cooking processes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Gerald F, Combs JR, James P McClung. The vitamins: fundamental aspects in nutrition and health. 5th ed. Academic Press, MA, USA. pp. 3–6 (2016)

  2. Cobley JN, MaHardy H, Morton JP, Nikolaidis MG, Close GL. Influence of vitamin C and vitamin E on redox signaling: Implications for exercise adaptations. Free Radic. Biol. Med. 84: 65–76 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Fuchs J, Kern H. Modulation of UV-light-induced skin inflammation by D-alpha-tocopherol and L-ascorbic acid: a clinical study using solar simulated radiation. Free Radic. Biol. Med. 25: 1006–1012 (1998)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Albanes D, Heinonen OP, Taylor PR, Virtamo J, Edwards BK, Rautalahti M, Hartman AM, Palmgren J, Freedman LS, Haapakoski J, Barrett MJ, Pietinen P, Malila N, Tala E, Liippo K, Salomaa ER, Tangrea JA, Teppo L, Askin FB, Taskinen E, Erozan Y, Greenwald P, Huttunen JK. Alpha-Tocopherol and beta-carotene supplements and lung cancer incidence in the alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene cancer prevention study: effects of base-line characteristics and study compliance. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 88: 1560–1570 (1996)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Heinonen OP, Albanes D, Virtamo J, Taylor PR, Huttunen JK, Hartman AM, Haapakoski J, Malila N, Rautalahti M, Ripatti S, Maenpaa H, Teerenhovi L, Koss L, Virolainen M, Edwards BK. Prostate cancer and supplementation with alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene: incidence and mortality in a controlled trial. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 90: 440–446 (1998)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Palozza P, Krinsky NI. Beta-Carotene and alpha-tocopherol are synergistic antioxidants. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 297: 184–187 (1992)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Cheung CL, Sahni S, Cheung BM, Sing CW, Wong IC. Vitamin K intake and mortality in people with chronic kidney disease from NHANES III. Clin. Nutr. 34: 235–240 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Karmas E, Harris RS. Nutritional evaluation of food processing. 3th ed. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, NY, USA. pp. 360–365 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Hu FB. Dietary pattern analysis: a new direction in nutritional epidemiology. Curr. Opin. Lipidol. 13: 3–9 (2002)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Zhong X, Dolan KD, Almenar E. Effect of steamable bag microwaving versus traditional cooking methods on nutritional preservation and physical properties of frozen vegetables: A case study on broccoli (Brassica oleracea). Innov. Food Sci. Emerg. Tech. 31: 116–122 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Dos Reis LC, de Oliveira VR, Hagen ME, Jablonski A, Flores SH, de Oliveira Rios A. Effect of cooking on the concentration of bioactive compounds in broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. Avenger) and cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. Alphina F1) grown in an organic system. Food Chem. 172: 770–777 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Tian J, Chen J, Lv F, Chen S, Chen J, Liu D, Ye X. Domestic cooking methods affect the phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of purple-fleshed potatoes. Food Chem. 197: 1264–1270 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Xu F, Zheng Y, Yang Z, Cao S, Shao X, Wang H. Domestic cooking methods affect the nutritional quality of red cabbage. Food Chem. 161: 162–167 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Lee J, Suknark K, Kluvitse Y, Phillips RD, Eitenmiller RR. Rapid liquid chromatographic assay of vitamin E and retinyl palmitate in extruded weaning foods. J. Food Sci. 64: 968–972 (1999)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Jakob E, Elmadfa I. Application of a simplified HPLC assay for the determination of phylloquinone (vitamin K1) in animal and plant food items. Food Chem. 56: 87–97 (1996)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. United States Department of Agriculture, USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6 (2007) Available from: https://www.ars.usda.gov. Accessed May. 1, 2017.

  17. Phillips KM, Tarragó-Trani MT, Gebhardt SE, Exler J, Patterson KY, Haytowitz DB, Pehrsson PR, Holden JM. Stability of vitamin C in frozen raw fruit and vegetable homogenates. J. Food Compos. Anal. 23: 253–259 (2010)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Bureau S, Mouhoubi S, Touloumet L, Garcia C, Moreau F, Bédouet V, Renard C MGC. Are folates, carotenoids and vitamin C affected by cooking? Four domestic procedures are compared on a large diversity of frozen vegetables. LWT-Food Sci. Technol. 64: 735–741 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Manna P, Kalita J. Beneficial role of vitamin K supplementation on insulin sensitivity, glucose metabolism, and the reduced risk of type 2 diabetes: A review. Nutrition 32: 732–739 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Booth SL, Suttie JW. Dietary intake and adequacy of vitamin K. J. Nutr. 128: 785–788 (1998)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Damon M, Zhang N, Haytowitz D, Booth S. Phylloquinone (vitamin K1) content of vegetables. J. Food Compos. Anal. 18: 751–758 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Scognamiglio M, D’Abrosca B, Pacifico S, Isidori M, Fiorentino A. Fat-soluble vitamins. Vol. II, pp. 568–569. In: handbook of food analysis-3rd ed. Nollet LML and Toldrá F (ed). CRC Press Inc., Baca Raton, FL, USA (2015)

  23. Cruz R, Casal S. Validation of a fast and accurate chromatographic method for detailed quantification of vitamin E in green leafy vegetables. Food Chem. 141: 1175–1180 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Barclay LRC, Locke SJ, MacNeil JM. The autoxidation of unsaturated lipids in micelles. Synergism of inhibitors vitamins C and E. Can. J. Chem. 61:1288–1290 (1983)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Bramley PM, Kafatos A, Kelly FJ, Manios Y, Roxborough HE, Schuch W, Sheehy PJA, Wagner KH. Review vitamin E. J. Sci. Food Agric. 80: 913–938 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Murillo E, Plumpton SE, Gaunt JK. The properties and distribution of α-tocopherol oxidase in plants. Biochem. Soc. Trans. 4: 486–487 (1976)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Knecht K, Sandfuchs K, Kulling SE, Bunzel D. Tocopherol and tocotrienol analysis in raw and cooked vegetables: a validated method with emphasis on sample preparation. Food Chem. 169: 20–27 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Lee TC, Ho CT. Bioactive compounds in foods: Effects of processing and storage, American Chemical Society, Washington DC, USA. pp. 34–43 (2002)

  29. Choi Y, Lee SM, Chun J, Lee HB, Lee J. Influence of heat treatment on the antioxidant activities and polyphenolic compounds of Shiitake (Lentinus edoes) mushroom. Food Chem. 99: 381–387 (2006)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Gayathri GN, Platel K, Prakash J, Srinivasan K. Influence of antioxidant spices on the retention of β-carotene in vegetables during domestic cooking processes. Food Chem. 84: 35–43 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Nzamwita M, Duodu KG, Minnaar A. Stability of beta-carotene during baking of orange-fleshed sweet potato-wheat composite bread and estimated contribution to vitamin A requirements. Food Chem. 228: 85–90 (2017)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Bernhardt S, Schlich E. Impact of different cooking methods on food quality: Retention of lipophilic vitamins in fresh and frozen vegetables. J. Food Eng. 77: 327–333 (2006)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Castenmiller JJ, West CE, Linssen JP, van het Hof KH, Voragen AG. The food matrix of spinach is a limiting factor in determining the bioavailability of beta-carotene and to a lesser extent of lutein in humnas. J. Ntr. 129: 345–355 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Mazzeo T, N’Dri D, Chiavaro E, Visconti A, Fogliano V, Pellegrini N. Effect of two cooking procedures on phytochemical compounds, total antioxidant capacity and colour of selected frozen vegetable. Food Chem. 128: 627–633 (2011)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Mara M, Stuparic M, Schieber A, Carle R. Effect of thermal processing on trans-cis-isomerization of β-carotene in carrot juices and carotene-containing preparations. Food Chem. 83:609–617 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Rural Development Administration (Project Number PJ010838).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Food and Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture, Life, and Environmental Sciences, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk, 28644, Korea

    Seongeung Lee, Heon Sang Jeong, Junsoo Lee & Jeehye Sung

  2. National Academy of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, 55365, Korea

    Youngmin Choi

Authors
  1. Seongeung Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Youngmin Choi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Heon Sang Jeong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Junsoo Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jeehye Sung
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeehye Sung.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lee, S., Choi, Y., Jeong, H.S. et al. Effect of different cooking methods on the content of vitamins and true retention in selected vegetables. Food Sci Biotechnol 27, 333–342 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-017-0281-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-017-0281-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation