- Frying vegetables in extra virgin olive oil increases antioxidants in them
- Transfers phenols from the oil to the vegetables during cooking process
- Phenols and antioxidants are thought to help prevent cancer and diabetes
- Experts warn frying does increase calorie content, at the same time
Budding chefs eager to cook up healthy meals for friends and family face a barrage of conflicting advice.
There are advocates of the raw food diet, who abhor the thought of cooking.
And then there are those who believe black pudding to be the latest superfood.
But, now a team of Spanish scientists have added a new theory to the mix.
They suggest frying vegetables is a healthier alternative to boiling - as long as the cook is using extra virgin olive oil.
Their
study found the cooking method increases the antioxidant capacity and
phenolic fraction present in raw vegetables typical of a Mediterranean
diet.
These compounds, the researchers said, help prevent chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes and macular degeneration.
Professor
Cristina Samaniego Sánchez from the University of Granada, said: 'Oil
increases the amount of phenolic compounds in vegetables, which is the
opposite to boiling.
'Therefore, we must stress that frying and sautéing conserve and enhance the phenolic composition.'
The Mediterranean diet is characterized by a high intake of vegetables and extra virgin olive oil.
These are both an important source of dietary phenols - compounds linked to the prevention of chronic diseases.
This kind of antioxidants can be modified during the cooking process, increasing or decreasing their concentrations.
The
researchers set out to discover whether the choice of cooking medium –
olive oil, water, or a mixture of both – had any effect on the amount of
these helpful compounds in the cooked food.
They conducted an experiment, cooking 120 grams of potato cubes, pumpkin, tomato and eggplant - all without seeds or skin.
They used three cooking methods - frying, boiling and cooking with a mix of extra virgin olive oil and water.
In
the laboratory, the samples were tested by high-performance liquid
chromatography to measure levels of moisture, fat, dry matter and the
total number of phenols, as well as the measurement of antioxidant
capacity.
Their
results revealed that using extra virgin olive oil for frying
vegetables increases their fat content and reduces their moisture, while
this was not observed in other cooking methods.
Reviewed by Unknown
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2:19 PM
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No, I don't like frying. I prefer to boil
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