If you sauté vegetables in extra virgin olive oil, it transfers phenols to the vegetables and increases its antioxidant level. Research also shows that phenol prevents cancer and diabetes.
Almost all of the people nowadays are conscious about their health and are finding ways on how to keep themselves healthy and away from diseases. It is true that many were caught in the belief that frying vegetables is not the healthiest way to cook them; however, a recent study revealed that frying vegetables with Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) could boost nutritional content more than other cooking methods.
Professor Cristina Samaniego Sanchez of the University of Granada and her team confirmed that frying is the method that produces the most associated increases in the phenolic fraction. She added that it is an enhancement in the cooking process although it raises the energy density by means of the absorbing the phenols from the oil.
According to EurekAlert, the goal of the study is to determine the effects of applying different methods of cooking on antioxidant capacity and the total amount of phenolic compounds present in the vegetables. The research team had series of practical tests to observe, analyze and interpret their findings -- cooking everything in three different ways: frying, boiling and cooking with a mix of EVOO and water.
Moreover, the researchers conceived an experiment in which they cooked 120 grams of cubed pumpkin (Cucurbitamoschata), potato (Solanumtuberosumo), eggplant (Solanummelongena) and tomato (Licopersicumesculentum) -- peeling the skin first and removing the seeds. Professor Sanchez also claimed that when comparing the content of phenols between fried vegetables in olive oil and boiled vegetables, results offered that the phenolic compound in the fried vegetables is higher than the boiled ones.
This happens because such transfer of phenol from EVOO to the vegetables enhances the vegetable with an oil-exclusive phenolic characteristic which is not present among raw vegetables. In the same way, hydrothermal cooking methods were also recommended when the food is prepared together with the cooking water.
The Telegraph then reported the study's key conclusion that vegetables, cooked in EVOO, increase their antioxidant capacity as well as other chemicals which prevent long-term diseases like cancer, diabetes, loss of eyesight, and some heart diseases.
