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Jack Barton | 2014-06-07 06:43:24
Buying fresh fruit and vegetables has long been touted as the holy grail of food consumption. Many believe that buying fresh produce is a league above buying frozen packets but does the evidence really support this belief?
Many studies have analysed the effects of food storage on antioxidant levels which are associated with many health benefits and a reduction in risk factors for many long term conditions. Studies have also looked at the effect of storage on the concentration of certain vitamins within these vegetables including vitamin C (aka ascorbic acid), which has been associated with many parameters of health and well-being, not least immune function.
Whist it appears evident that initially fresh produce does contain a higher concentration of vital antioxidants and vitamins (Favell, 1998), the benefits gained very much depends on the time taken before consumption and the way in which they are stored. Data suggests that in the initial couple of days after purchase, dependent on the vegetable in question, you may receive all of the benefit of consuming fresh produce, however after this varying period of time vegetables tend to lose some of the nutrients within whereas the nutrient density of frozen vegetables, although lower to begin with, appears much more stable (Hunter et al., 2002).
In summary it appears that the benefits of consuming fresh as opposed to frozen vegetables does demonstrate significant benefit, however these benefits are only seen if the foods are stored in a chilled environment and are consumed relatively quickly. So if you can purchase fresh veg several times a week and store it in your fridge, fantastic! If you can’t do that frozen vegetables may be a better option.
Jack Barton (Researcher, Rescon Ltd)
References
Favell, D. J. (1998). A comparison of the vitamin C content of fresh and frozen vegetables. Food chemistry, 62(1), 59-64.
Hunter, K. J., & Fletcher, J. M. (2002). The antioxidant activity and composition of fresh, frozen, jarred and canned vegetables. Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, 3(4), 399-406.