Fresh vs Frozen Fruit and Vegetables Which Are Healthier? :- Frozen produce may have more nutrients than fresh, as it is typically picked at peak ripeness. However, some nutrients are lost during processing, and nutrients in both degrade with longer storage.
Fresh vs Frozen Fruit and Vegetables Which Are Healthier?
A lesser percentage of the fruits and vegetables you purchase are harvested by machines; the majority are picked by hand. The next steps differ for frozen and fresh produce, though.
Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
The majority of fresh produce is harvested before it reaches its full ripeness. This gives them enough time to mature completely while being transported.
They also have less time to build a complete complement of minerals, vitamins, and naturally occurring antioxidants.
Fruits and vegetables might travel anywhere from three days to several weeks in the US before they reach a distribution facility.
On the other hand, according to the USDA, some product, including apples and pears, can be kept in a controlled environment for up to a year before being sold.
Fresh food is usually transported in a refrigerated, controlled environment and is chemically treated to keep it from rotting.
Upon arrival at the supermarket, fruits and vegetables might be on display for an extra one to three days. Before being consumed, they are then kept in people’s homes for up to seven days.
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Frozen Fruit and Vegetables
When choosing fruits and vegetables for freezing, they are usually chosen at their most ripe and nutritious point.
In a matter of hours after harvesting, the veggies are frequently cleaned, blanched, sliced, frozen, and packaged.
Fruits are typically not blanched because this might significantly alter their texture.
To keep them from rotting, ascorbic acid, a kind of vitamin C, or additional sugar can be applied.
Typically, produce is left untreated until it is frozen.
Some Vitamins Are Lost During Processing of Frozen Produce
Freezing, in general, helps fruits and vegetables maintain their nutritional value.
On the other hand, frozen produce kept for longer than a year starts to lose some of its nutrients (2Trusted Source).
Additionally, some nutrients are lost when blanching food. In actuality, this is the time when the most nutrients are lost.
Before freezing, the product is blanched, which is done by briefly submerging it in boiling water for a few minutes.
By doing this, any dangerous germs are eliminated, and flavour, colour, and texture are preserved. However, it also causes the loss of minerals that are soluble in water, like vitamin C and B vitamins.
This does not, however, apply to frozen fruits because they are not blanched.
The kind of vegetable and blanching time both affect how much nutrition is lost. Losses often vary from 10% to 80%, with 50% being the average.
According to one study, blanching decreased the amount of water-soluble antioxidant activity in spinach by 50% and in peas by 30%. However, levels did not change when being stored at -4° F, or -20° C.
However, other studies also indicate that even if water-soluble vitamins are lost, frozen fruit may still have antioxidant activity.
Fresh vs Frozen: Which Is More Nutritious?
Findings from research comparing the nutritional value of fresh and frozen food differ slightly.
This is due to the fact that while some studies use product from supermarkets, others use freshly gathered produce, which eliminates the effects of storage and transit time.
Furthermore, variations in the techniques used for processing and measuring can affect the outcomes.
Generally speaking, nevertheless, the data indicates that freezing can retain nutritional value and that fresh and frozen products have comparable nutritional values.
