Study on Nutritional Benefits of Processed Fruit & Vegetables
PROFEL entrusted the University of Ghent with a bibliographical study summarising available scientific evidence on the nutritional values of processed fruit and vegetables. Research confirms that - due to their nutritional qualities - processed fruit and vegetables can play an important role in fulfilling public recommendations to increase the intake of fruit and vegetables.
Processed fruit and vegetables – be they frozen, canned or processed into jams, jellies, marmalades, etc. – contribute in a significant manner to the intake of essential nutrients in the daily diets and help people to comply with public health recommendations.
Nowadays, foodstuffs are processed following strict quality assurance procedures and in compliance with internationally recognized codes of practices.
Furthermore, processing is clearly one of the most effective ways of guaranteeing the microbiological and chemical stability of foods.
Processing offers us "functional" foods that are easy to prepare. But above all it means that safe and healthy foods rich in nutritional qualities are always at hand all year round:
• In the canning process, the food is heated to a defined and strictly controlled temperature to ensure the destruction of enzymes and remove the risk of decay and food poisoning;
• Quick-freezing is an extremely rapid process which preserves the texture, colour, flavour and nutritional value of fruit and vegetables;
• The stability of jams, jellies and marmalades is achieved through heating and the addition of another nutritional element, sugar, so as to prevent the metabolism of microorganisms. The normal inversion of sucrose into glucose and fructose also has some positive advantages for health.
Processed foods therefore contribute towards the recommended daily intake of vitamins, minerals and fibre, especially as the fruit used is picked at the perfect stage of ripeness, when it has its fullest flavour and optimum nutritional value that can be captured and preserved by an adequate processing process . It is then carefully selected on the basis of strict quality criteria and processed within a few hours of being gathered.
Most fruit and vegetables are naturally poor in fats and rich in fibre, vitamins and minerals.
• Vitamin A, essential for our body's cellular activity, our night vision and our colour perception, is found in many fruit and vegetables in the form of carotene, an antioxidant which protects the body's cells. Apricots, carrots, peaches, spinach and red peppers have a particularly high carotene content.
• Apricots, blackcurrants, asparagus, citrus fruit, strawberries and spinach also contain vitamin C. Even though the vitamin C content can fall slightly during the canning process, it nevertheless remains stable throughout the life of the product.
• A lot of fruit and vegetables are also rich in fibre. This is the case with blackberries, cherries, strawberries, carrots, artichokes, beans and peas.
