Many people continue to be skeptical about frozen fruits and vegetables thinking they lack in vital nutrients which makes them no better than fast food. Luckily for usa, it couldn't exist farther from the truth, and I will tell yous why.
Start, let me say that food preservation is hardly new to the states. Evidence has it that ice cellars were used to shop food in Cathay as early equally 1,000 BC, and y'all could easily find them in whatsoever household. Normally these types of structures were used for storing perishable foods during summer. In early on spring, a deep hole was filled with ice and covered with straw. Afterward meat, fish, drinks and other foodstuffs were placed on top of it all, the cellar was so boarded up.
And then refrigeration came into the motion picture, rapidly becoming i of the most groundbreaking innovations of the 20th century. It made healthy eating more than convenient and, not to mention, more than affordable, likewise. Flash freezing made information technology possible to obtain frozen vegetables of a fundamentally different quality, keeping their sense of taste and properties almost unchanged. When stored this way, the process of destruction of the vast bulk of vital compounds stops, which makes it easier to shop products and send them over long distances.
So, permit me explain why frozen vegetables are non worse and, in some cases, even improve than their fresh alternatives.
i. Ripeness of products
Shipment from the original site to the point of sale can take days, if not weeks, that'due south why fresh vegetables are cut long before they are ripe and ready, so they take no pick just to ripen while they are existence transported (and oft they neglect at information technology). Vegetables destined to be flash frozen are picked at their height ripeness, i.e. when they are virtually nutrient-packed. It may sound strange, but the main benefit of frozen vegetables is their high quality. Yous come across, some fresh vegetables that are sold in the supermarket are far from fresh.
The amount of vitamins and minerals in unripe or overripe veggies is up to 75% lower than in ripe ones.
Freezing is performed at the moment when the product is 100% ripe, that is, it contains the maximum quantity of essential nutrients.
Here's an example. Active members of the Austrian Consumer Society conducted an interesting study. By comparing the nutritional value of fresh and frozen vegetables brought from Spain, Italy, Turkey and Israel they determined that the vitamin content in frozen domestic products was higher than in some imported products! This is not unheard of, mainly because fresh products sold in stores during wintertime initially comprise less nutrients (vitamins, minerals) than local seasonal produce.
ii. No (or less) preservatives
Frozen foods practice non require any added preservatives. They undergo temperature processing immediately afterward they are harvested and retain their perfect shape and expect. Meanwhile, fresh vegetables, fruits and berries travel to dissimilar countries and continents from iii to 30 days and often transporters don't have much choice but to treat them with special chemic substances (!) that suppress unpleasant tastes and smells, and sometimes even mold and rot.
iii. Low risk of infection
Frozen foods incorporate significantly fewer bacteria that cause food poisoning when compared to fresh foods which usually are non washed at all. Moreover, they pass through the hands of several people before packaging. In this instance, cracks and scratches on the produce should exist a major reason for business organization being a natural habitat of bacteria which survive in that location fifty-fifty after thorough washing!
Note that fifty-fifty brusk-term freezing for 24 hours doesn't kill most parasites, but only slows downwardly the multiplication of microorganisms not reducing the risk of poisoning completely.
4. Storage
"Fresh foods are better than their frozen alternatives once simply – if y'all personally pick them right off the trees," assures Nutritionist Bruce Whiteville. "Unfortunately, these days, only a lucky few can afford to swallow fruits, vegetables and berries that they grow on their ain land." And this is indeed very unfortunate, because very often fresh vegetables lose upwards to 50% of their useful backdrop before they get to our tabular array. This way, green peas, for instance, lose 77% of their useful properties when they sit on the shelves, and if frozen they save up to 94% of all vitamins.
The freshness of fruits and vegetables is unremarkably determined past the concentration of vitamin C. This most of import vitamin is also very fragile – a couple of days of storage can significantly reduce the vitamin C content in food. Spinach loses 75% of its initial vitamin C after only two days of storage, asparagus and broccoli lose upwardly to 80%. "The nutrients in fresh fruits and vegetables get-go to gradually intermission downward a few minutes later on these vegetables leave the garden," said Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist Dr. Sarah Schenker. "Often past the time they get to our plates their nutritional value is cut in half".
Meanwhile, it's very piece of cake to store and use frozen foods. Fruits, vegetables and berries tend to concur their flavour better in the freezer. Besides, on the bright side, freezing ordinarily spares y'all from losing much of your hard-earned money to prematurely spoiled foods. Information technology transpired that while the vegetables collected from the fields and greenhouses are stored, transported and lie on the shelves, they lose at least half of their nutritional properties. At the aforementioned time, the freezing of fruits and vegetables happens shortly after they have been collected. And this is when the concentration of nutrients in fruits and veggies is the highest. And with the aid of freezing, these nutrients are near completely preserved.
On average, information technology takes tomatoes approximately 7-9 days to go to the retail outlet, and they prevarication on the shelves for some other 4-five days. During this catamenia dark-green beans waste virtually 45% of their nutrients, broccoli and cauliflower – 25%, dark-green peas – 15%, carrots – 10%. Vegetables are quickly losing vitamins (specially vitamin C) and other useful nutrients, such as glucosinolates, which possess antitumor properties.
v. Vitamin content
Surely, the quantity of fundamental vitamins plummets, however this decrease is not critical. The vitamin which is near sensitive to temperature change is vitamin C. It is a well-known fact that during flash freezing (-30°ะก or -22°F) vitamin C loses its properties past 15-20%. Canning and preserving don't have the aforementioned event – this mode vegetables and fruits lose upwardly to 50% of their vitamin C, and if they are dried – up to 70%. Indeed, vitamin C, for example, is especially sensitive to a rapid change of temperature (this applies to diverse types of cabbage, sweet pepper, green peas, etc.). The content of other vitamins is also reduced in frozen vegetables and fruits, just in smaller quantities.
A host of enquiry shows that the peak loss of vitamins C and B can be observed non during the storage of frozen foodstuffs, only during their preparation for freezing: washing, heating at high temperatures, etc.
That said, vitamin A, for instance, is not lost at the stage of preparation, merely during storage. The amount of folic acid remains unchanged throughout a year of its frozen storage. And then, about 25% of vitamin B1 is lost during freezing. At the aforementioned time freezing has practically no result on the level of vitamin B2 – losses go to make up simply iv%. For fat-soluble vitamins, the content of carotene varies slightly when frozen. Fifty-fifty if the vitamin content of frozen broccoli is 10-15% lower than in the fresh product, it is the frequency and the volume of consumption that will play a key role here.
Research conducted past Dr. Barbara Klein from the University of Illinois (Us) found that it's important to freeze foods within three days afterwards harvesting, so if products are frozen within this fourth dimension interval at a temperature betwixt -27°C and -40°C (-16.6°F and -xl°F), they will lose only most thirty percent of all their vitamins, nearly of which will suspension loose during slicing, dicing and chopping.
half dozen. Phytonutrients content
An unexpected upshot of freezing has inadvertently been discovered for blueberries and blackberries. It goes without saying that these products are famous for their high content of powerful antioxidants. Apart from that, information technology turned out that when frozen these berries abound ice crystals inside of them, thus destroying their fetal tissue making viable antioxidants more accessible for the states. So, in this instance, freezing actually makes these two berries healthier and more nutritious.
In decision
Exercise non underestimate frozen vegetables and berries! They are expert for your health and are comparable to their fresh alternatives! In addition, brand certain you lot defrost your foods properly and also purchase a thermal pocketbook for their safe transportation.
When it comes to frozen foods, steer articulate of the small-scale stores – they might have problems with proper freezing and storage. One final tip: purchase big packages – information technology's very convenient and a dandy money saver.
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