Effect of domestic cooking methods on the total antioxidant capacity of vegetables

Abstract

As well as tables of food composition, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) databases—developed in past years for investigating health effects of antioxidant-rich foods in epidemiological and nutritional studies—have been created on the basis of analytical data from raw plant material. However, most vegetables are commonly cooked before consumption. With the aim of completing a previously developed TAC database, the effect of the major domestic practices (i.e. boiling, pan-frying and deep-frying) on the TAC of commonly consumed cooked vegetables was evaluated. Based on dry weight, boiling generally resulted in positive TAC changes whereas a general negative effect on the TAC was observed in pan-fried vegetables. Deep-frying produced a TAC increase of potato, artichoke and aubergine but a TAC reduction of mushroom and onion. The present study clearly indicates that cooking is not always a detrimental process when the TAC is used as an index to evaluate the nutritional characteristics of vegetables.

• Vegetables
• total antioxidant capacity
• domestic cooking methods