Originally published November 7 2005
Research shows negative impact of food processing on fruits and veggies
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Wageningen University researchers have published findings that demonstrate the harmful effect of food processing on the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables.
A team from Wageningen University that has assessed the damage done to phytochemicals in a variety of differently processed fruit and vegetables for several years has found that almost all stages of the 'farm-to-fork' chain reduce the level of healthy compounds.
Furthermore, processing can affect the amounts of health-promoting compounds in fruit and vegetable products so much that it could account for the variation in findings from studies investigating their health benefits, one of the researchers, Dr Ruud Verkerk, told NutraIngredients.com.
It is already well-known that levels of vitamins decline when fruit and vegetables are processed but Dr Verkerk and colleague Matthijs Dekker have shown similar damage to glucosinolates, phytochemicals that have been shown in the laboratory to fight cancer and may also protect the memory.
We think this could be because all types of fruit and vegetables are treated the same, yet they differ a lot in the levels of glucosinolates at least," he said.
This would improve information on the amount of health compounds the subjects are getting.
The Wageningen team also used their experiments to develop mathematical equations for the different parameters that influence glucosinolate levels, such as temperature, time in processing, or even domestic food preparation.
The simulations predict an approximate 45 per cent reduction in the risk of colon cancer if the entire food production chain can increase the average quality of healthy substances in fruit and vegetable products by three times.
Breeding and cultivation also play a significant role in the variation of healthy substances found in fruit and vegetables, yet Dr Verkerk says breeders and processors do not yet work together to ensure optimum levels of healthy compounds.
This is perhaps due to the lack of consumer awareness and therefore demand for information on particular fruit and vegetable compounds.
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