Is it true that fresh vegetables, fruits and berries are more useful than frozen?

It is believed that the fruits of plants that are freezing lose part of the vitamins contained in them. We decided to check if this is really so.

Many Internet users Interested, is there benefit From frozen vegetables, fruits and berries. Some even Suspectthat are products can be harmful For health. This topic is very popular among visitors to services questions And answers. Users discuss it and social networks. Some Portals About nutrition writethat frozen vegetables lose their nutritional properties and taste.

First of all, it is necessary to decide what fresh vegetables, fruits and berries are. If we are talking about those fruits that are just collected from the beds or tore off the bush, they will certainly be more useful than those that were frozen or stored for some time in any other way. The same applies to farm markets, where seasonal fruits collected a few hours earlier are available. As for vegetables, fruits and berries sold in the store, which were delivered from another region or stored in warehouses for several months since last season - the maintenance of vitamins in them raises questions. 

Some vegetables before freezing pass The process of blanching (they are lowered into boiling water for several minutes). This is done to kill microbes and preserve the color and structure of vegetables. As a result, part of the antioxidants and other beneficial substances lostalthough the same thing happens with prolonged storage of vegetables at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Fruits and berries do not blanch before freezing, however, ascorbic acid or sugar is sometimes added to them - this does not affect the content of vitamins, but sugar -containing “freezing” may not be suitable for those who monitor calories. 

In 2007, scientists from the University of California (USA) Compared The content of vitamins in fresh, frozen and canned vegetables (broccoli, carrots, green beans, green peas and spinach). It turned out that, for example, fresh spinach, having spent seven days at a temperature of 20 ° C, completely loses the vitamin C contained in it (at a temperature of 4 ° C - 75%). At the same time, when freezing, losses will only be 30% of this substance, and spinach in such conditions can be stored for a whole year. Of all the studied samples, only broccoli retained vitamin C when stored in the refrigerator better than during freezing. The same scientists found outthat the content of vitamin E, minerals and fiber practically does not change when freezing.

Scientists from the University of Chester (Great Britain) Studied The content of vitamins and other beneficial substances in fresh and frozen blueberries, raspberries, peas, green beans, corn and cauliflower. They came to the conclusion that the content of nutrients is usually higher in frozen products than in fresh, but laid after harvesting for more than three days. 

To the similar conclusion A group of scientists from Italy and the Netherlands came. They compared the nutritional value of fresh fruits with those that were subjected to blanching and freezing. It turned out that frozen zucchini, asparagus and patch beans are similar to fresh content of useful substances, and beans and zucchini in this indicator even exceeded the raw.

The higher content of vitamins in frozen products may be partly due to the fact that vegetables and fruits imported from another region or country are usually collected Untisigious - So during the transportation they ripen, and do not deteriorate. In this case, the maximum amount of vitamins manage to accumulate the fruits by the time of ripening. If they were pulled out of the ground or tore off the branches ahead of schedule, then the number of vitamins in them will initially be lower than it could be. For freezing, vegetables and fruits, on the contrary, are collected at the peak of maturity and are relatively quickly frozen, therefore, even taking into account processing in them, there are often more useful substances than in fresh on shelves in stores.

US Diseases Control and Prevention Centers (CDC) Recommend To include fruits and vegetables in the diet, and a special emphasis is on what it does not matter what they will be - fresh, frozen or even canned. 

However, an important factor in the quality of frozen vegetables, fruits or berries is the right storage. If such products for some reason are defrosted, and then they were frozen again, they will still be safely eaten, but the process of losing useful substances stopped by frost will also resume. Since it is impossible to find out exactly how the packaging was stored before hit the counter, it is also impossible to be confident in the high quality of the contents.

Thus, the largest amount of nutrients is contained in fruits torn from the branch at the peak of ripening, and they need to eat them immediately to get all the vitamins and biologically significant substances. If, by fresh vegetables, fruits or berries, we mean those that are sold in an unprocessed form in the store, then in this case, perhaps, it will be more useful. Firstly, due to the need to preserve the presentation with prolonged transportation, such fruits are usually collected unripe (that is, they initially have fewer useful substances in them). Secondly, with prolonged storage at temperatures above zero, the content of vitamins is reduced. Fruits for freezing, on the contrary, are usually collected at the peak of maturity, and low temperatures help maintain the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables. However, all this is fair, subject to the appropriate storage conditions, which a simple consumer will not be able to find out about the opening of the packaging.

Photo on the cover: Pixabay.com

Half truth

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Is it true that fruit juices are as harmful as sweet soda?
2. Is it true that products marked “organic” are more useful than ordinary?
3. Is it true that sea or Himalayan salt is more useful than cook?