Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-03T19:13:36.508Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of different cooking methods on folate retention in various foods that are amongst the major contributors to folate intake in the UK diet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Derek J. McKillop ,
Kristina Pentieva ,
Donna Daly ,
Joseph M. McPartlin ,
Joan Hughes ,
J. J. Strain ,
John M. Scott  and
Helene McNulty
Derek J. McKillop
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK
Kristina Pentieva*
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK
Donna Daly
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK
Joseph M. McPartlin
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK
Joan Hughes
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK
J. J. Strain
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK
John M. Scott
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK
Helene McNulty
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK
*
*Corresponding author: Dr Kristina Pentieva, fax +44 2870 324965, email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Folate intake is strongly influenced by various methods of cooking that can degrade the natural forms of the vitamin in foods. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of different cooking methods on folate retention in various foods that contribute to folate intake in the UK diet. Typical purchasing and cooking practices of representative food folate sources were determined from a questionnaire survey of local shoppers (n 100). Total folate was determined by microbiological assay (Lactobacillus casei NCIMB 10463) following thermal extraction and tri-enzyme (α-amylase, protease and conjugase) treatment in raw foods and after typical methods of cooking. Boiling for typical time periods resulted in only 49 % retention of folate in spinach (191·8 and 94·4 μg/100 g for raw and boiled spinach respectively; P<0·005), and only 44 % in broccoli (177·1 and 77·0 μg/100 g for raw and boiled broccoli respectively, P<0·0001). Steaming of spinach or broccoli, in contrast, resulted in no significant decrease in folate content, even for the maximum steaming periods of 4·5 min (spinach) and 15·0 min (broccoli). Prolonged grilling of beef for the maximum period of 16·0 min did not result in a significant decrease in folate content (54·3 and 51·5 μg/100 g for raw and grilled beef respectively). Compared with raw values, boiling of whole potatoes (skin and flesh) for 60·0 min did not result in a significant change in folate content (125·1 and 102·8 μg/100 g for raw and boiled potato respectively), nor was there any effect on folate retention whether or not skin was retained during boiling. These current results show that the retention of folate in various foods is highly dependent both on the food in question and the method of cooking. Thus, public health efforts to increase folate intake in order to improve folate status should incorporate practical advice on cooking.

Keywords

Food folate retentionCooking methodsFood folatesDietary folate intake
Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 88 , Issue 6 , December 2002 , pp. 681 - 688
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2002

References

Aramouni, FM & Godber, JS (1991) Folate losses in beef liver due to cooking and frozen storage. Journal of Food Quality 14, 357–365.Google Scholar
Arthey, VD (1975) Quality of Horticultural Products. London: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Augustin, J, Johnson, SR, Teitzel, C, True, RH, Hogan, JM, Toma, RB, Shaw, RL & Deutsch, RM (1987) Changes in the nutrient composition of potatoes during home preparation II. American Potato Journal 55, 653–662.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ball, GFM (1998) Folate. In Bioavailability and Analysis of Vitamins in Foods, pp. 439–496. London: Chapman and Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Botto, LD, Moore, CA, Knotty, MJ & Erickson, JD (1999) Medical progress: neural tube defects. New England Journal of Medicine 20, 1509–1519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boushey, CJ, Beresford, SA, Omenn, GS & Motulsky, AG (1995) A quantitative assessment of plasma homocysteine as a risk factor for vascular disease: Probable benefits of increasing folic acid intakes. Journal of the American Medical Association 274, 1049–1057.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Branda, RF & Blickenderfer, DB (1993) Folate deficiency increases genetic damage caused by alkylating agents in γ-irradiation in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Cancer Research 53, 5401–5408.Google ScholarPubMed
Chen, TS, Song, YO & Kirsch, AJ (1983) Effects of blanching, freezing and storage on folacin contents of spinach. Nutrition Reports International 28, 317–321.Google Scholar
Choi, SW & Mason, JB (2000) Folate and carcinogenesis: An integrated scheme. Journal of Nutrition 130, 129–132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Czeizel, AE & Dudas, I (1992) Prevention of first occurrence of neural tube defects by periconceptional vitamin supplementation. New England Journal of Medicine 327, 1832–1835.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Daly, S, Molloy, A, Mills, JL, Conley, MR, Young, LJ, Kirke, PN, Weir, DG & Scott, JM (1997) Minimum effective dose of folic acid for food fortification to prevent neural tube defects. Lancet 350, 1666–1669.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dang, J, Arcot, J & Shrestha, A (2000) Folate retention in selected processed legumes. Food Chemistry 68, 295–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Health (1992) Folic Acid and the Prevention of Neural Tube Defects. London: H. M. Stationery Office.Google Scholar
DeSouza, SC & Eitenmiller, RR (1986) Effects of processing and storage on the folate content of spinach and broccoli. Journal of Food Science 51, 626–628.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eitenmiller, RR & Landen, WO (1999) Folate. In Vitamin Analysis for the Health and Food Science, pp. 411–465 [Eitenmiller, RR and Landen, WO, editors]. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Gregory, JF (1989) Chemical and nutritional aspects of folate research: analytical procedures, methods of folate synthesis, stability and bioavailability of dietary folates. In Advances in Food and Nutrition Research, pp. 1–101 [Kinsella, JE, editor]. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Gregory, JF (1996) Vitamins. In Food Chemistry, 3rd ed., pp. 531–608 [Fennema, OR, editor]. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc.Google Scholar
Hawkes, JG & Villota, R (1989) Folates in foods: reactivity, stability during processing and nutritional implications. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 28, 439–538.Google ScholarPubMed
Holland, B, Welch, AA, Unwin, ID, Buss, DH, Paul, AA & Southgate, DAT (1991) McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods, 5th ed. Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry and Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.Google Scholar
Hurdle, ADF, Barton, D & Searles, IH (1968) A method for measuring folate in foods and its application to a hospital diet. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 21, 1202–1207.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacob, RA, Gretz, DM, Taylor, PC, James, SJ, Pogribny, IP, Miller, BJ, Henning, SM & Swendseid, ME (1998) Moderate folate depletion increases plasma homocysteine and decreases lymphocyte DNA methylation in postmenopausal woman. Journal of Nutrition 128, 1204–1214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keagy, PM (1985) Folacin: Microbiological and animal assays. In Methods of Vitamin Assay, 4th ed., pp. 445–471 [Augustin, J, Klein, BP and Venugopal, PB, editors]. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Kim, YI, Pogribny, IP, Basnakian, AG, Miller, JM, Selhub, J, James, SJ & Mason, JB (1997) Folate deficiency in rats induced DNA strand breaks and hypomethylation within the p53 tumour suppresser gene. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 65, 46–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, BP (1989) Retention of nutrients in microwave-cooked foods. Boletin Asociacion Medica de Puerto Rico 81, 277–279.Google ScholarPubMed
Leichter, J, Switzer, VP & Landymore, AF (1978) Effect of cooking on folate content of vegetables. Nutrition Reports International 18, 475–479.Google Scholar
Lin, KC, Luh, BS & Schweigert, BS (1975) Folic acid content of canned garbanzo beans. Journal of Food Science 40, 562–565.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lund, D (1988) Effects of heat processing on nutrients. In Nutritional Evaluation of Food Processing, 3rd ed., pp. 319–354 [Karmas, E and Harris, RS, editors]. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1994) The Dietary and Nutritional Survey of British Adults: Further Analysis. London: H. M. Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Malin, JD (1977) Total folate activity in Brussel sprouts: the effects of storage, processing, cooking and ascorbic content. Journal of Food Technology 12, 623–632.Google Scholar
Medical Research Council Vitamin Study Research Group (1991) Prevention of neural tube defects: results of the Medical Research Council Vitamin Study. Lancet 338, 131–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Molloy, AM & Scott, JM (1997) Microbiological assay for serum, plasma and red cell folate using cryopreserved, microtiter plate method. Methods in Enzymology 281, 43–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murphy, M, Boyle, PHM, Weir, DG & Scott, JM (1978) The identification of the products of folate catabolism in the rat. British Journal of Haematology 38, 211–218.Google Scholar
Murphy, M, Keating, M, Boyle, P, Weir, DG & Scott, JM (1976) The elucidation of the mechanism of folate catabolism in the rat. Biochemistry and Biophysics Research Communications 71, 1017–1024.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Health and Medical Research Council (1993) Revised Statement on the Relationship Between Dietary Folic Acid and Neural Tube Defects Such As Spina Bifida, 115th session. Australia: National Health and Medical Research Council.Google Scholar
Public Health Service Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1992) Recommendations for the use of folic acid to reduce the number of cases of spina bifida and other neural tube defects. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 41, 1–7.Google Scholar
Scott, JM (2001) Methyltetrahydrofolate: the superior alternative to folic acid. In Nutraceuticals in Health and Disease Prevention, pp. 75–90 [Krämer, K, Hoppe, PP and Packer, L, editors]. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc.Google Scholar
Tamura, T (1998) Determination of food folate. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry 9, 285–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vahteristo, LT, Lehikoinen, KE, Ollilainen, V, Koivistoinen, PE & Varo, P (1998) Oven-baking and frozen storage affect folate vitamin retention. Food Science and Technology-LEB 31, 329–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ward, M, McNulty, H, McPartlin, JM, Strain, JJ, Weir, DG & Scott, JM (1997) Plasma homocysteine, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, is lowered by physiological doses of folic acid. Quarterly Journal of Medicine 90, 519–524.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, SD & Horne, DW (1984) High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of the distribution of naturally occurring folic acid derivatives in rat liver. Analytical Biochemistry 142, 429–535.Google Scholar