Contents
How to preserve vitamins?
How to keep vitamins from food in good state?
Vitamins are very sensitive components that wear out easily. The elements that easily destroy vitamins are heat, contact with air or water.
Heat destroys vitamin C, folic acid, vitamin E and many B vitamins.
The deterioration of these vitamins depends on the cooking method and its time. Cooking the food as quickly as possible and with the lowest possible temperature promotes their conservation.
The best way to keep these components is the microwave oven, because it takes place without the presence of water and cooking time is very short.
The pressure cooker cooking is very interesting, because although the temperature is high, the cooking time is very short. Equally interesting is steaming without the presence of water.
If you must use oil, you should use a good amount of it, covering the food so it is done quickly. It has been found that cooking processes often destroy up to 50% of the content of vitamin C.
Contact with oxygen in the air oxidizes many vitamins
Especially folic acid, vitamin C, E and B6, and makes them unusable. It is important to ensure that foods containing these vitamins are kept in tightly closed containers.
Dried fruits should be peeled before eating because they get stale due to oxidation of vitamin E. It is important to buy fruits and vegetables as fresh as possible because if it has been a long time since their were harvested, they have already lost a lot of vitamins.
Frozen or canned vegetables can have much more content of vitamin C than their fresh versions. Cans and frozen process perfectly preserve this vitamin, although the first heating process destroys part of the vitamin.
Water drags water-soluble vitamins. (B-complex vitamins and vitamin C).
- Therefore, preparing vegetables that contain these vitamins with the least water possible is essential. When this is not possible, it is best to drink the cooking water or prepare other dishes with it.
Tips to make better use of vitamins
Among the tips that would be interesting to preserve vitamins when cooking vegetables we could mention the following:
- Cut them in large pieces so that the surface of the vegetable is less exposed to air contact.
- Do not peel the fruit pieces in advance so contact with air does not destroy vitamins.
- Cover the pots with the lid to cook them as fast as possible.
- Use cooking methods with little water whenever possible, such as steaming or microwave oven.
- When cooking with wate, it is better that it boils before we add the vegetables. Thus, cooking time is shortened.
- Putting the vegetables to soak is it a habit that destroys many vitamins.
- Copper pans destroy vitamin C.
- The practice of adding bicarbonate to vegetables spoils its vitamin C.
- Do not waste the broth of vegetables when cooked with water, because most of the components are in that broth. These broths can be used to make other meals.
- Once cooked, vegetables should be eaten as soon as possible and one should not get used to save them for the next meal, because the vitamins are easily destroyed.
More information on vitamins.
