Table 1.
Nutritional properties of cauliflowers cooked by different cooking systems and times.
| Cooking System and Time (min) | Solids (g/100 g) | Ascorbic Acid (mg/100 g dw) | Total Phenolics (mg GAE/100 g dw) | Antioxidant Activity (mg TE/100 g dw) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trial 1 | Trial 2 | Trial 1 | Trial 2 | Trial 1 | Trial 2 | Trial 1 | Trial 2 | |
| Boiling | ||||||||
| Raw (t0) | 7.9 ± 0.1f | 7.6 ± 0.1b | nd | nd | 403 ± 18d | 500 ± 15e | 41 ± 17a | 72 ± 22a |
| 5 | 6.8 ± 0.1e | 7.2 ± 0.1b | 550 ± 6d | 467 ± 9c | 490 ± 27e | 403 ± 13d | 866 ± 16bc | 855 ± 28c |
| 10 | 6.2 ± 0.1d | 6.8 ± 0.4b | 461 ± 6c | 388 ± 16b | 420 ± 29d | 369 ± 8c | 1376 ± 140d | 1185 ± 27d |
| 15 | 5.9 ± 0.1c | 6.7 ± 0.3b | 315 ± 1b | 241 ± 8a | 339 ± 17c | 316 ± 1a | 1005 ± 165c | 868 ± 30c |
| 20 | 5.5 ± 0.1b | 5.2 ± 0.8a | 213 ± 1a | 266 ± 45a | 293 ± 21b | 337 ± 10b | 793 ± 40b | 745 ± 43b |
| 30 | 5.2 ± 0.1a | 4.5 ± 0.3a | 222 ± 3a | 236 ± 17a | 248 ± 7a | 391 ± 14d | 797 ± 29b | 885 ± 11c |
| p-value | *** | ** | *** | *** | *** | *** | *** | *** |
| Steaming | ||||||||
| Raw (t0) | 8.6 ± 0.1b | 9.0 ± 0.7abc | nd | nd | 348 ± 6a | 394 ± 20a | 52 ± 23a | 35 ± 2a |
| Blanching | - | - | 588 ± 45c | 405 ± 7b | - | - | - | - |
| 7.5 | 8.5 ± 0.1b | 8.8 ± 0.1a | 397 ± 11b | 441 ± 47b | 507 ± 5b | 558 ± 7c | 748 ± 24c | 704 ± 25b |
| 15 | 8.7 ± 0.1b | 9.1 ± 0.2bc | 386 ± 18b | 345 ± 33a | 492 ± 20b | 573 ± 7cd | 556 ± 15b | 904 ± 22d |
| 22.5 | 8.4 ± 0.1ab | 8.8 ± 0.1ab | 399 ± 2b | 307 ± 11a | 509 ± 8b | 586 ± 8d | 850 ± 34d | 879 ± 108cd |
| 30 | 8.2 ± 0.2a | 9.3 ± 0.1c | 334 ± 9a | 261 ± 7a | 621 ± 15c | 452 ± 6b | 1184 ± 35e | 807 ± 50c |
| p-value | * | * | * | * | *** | *** | *** | *** |
| Microwaving | ||||||||
| Raw (t0) | 8.5 ± 0.6a | 8.0 ± 0.7a | nd | nd | 390 ± 43a | 413 ± 8a | 94 ± 17a | 104 ± 15a |
| Blanching | - | - | 472 ± 32c | 404 ± 33a | - | - | - | - |
| 5 | 9.3 ± 0.1b | 9.1 ± 0.1b | 340 ± 20a | 439 ± 12b | 358 ± 6a | 524 ± 7b | 251 ± 34b | 255 ± 15b |
| 10 | 12 ± 0.1c | 9.6 ± 0.1c | 420 ± 6b | 487 ± 4c | 532 ± 18b | 571 ± 12c | 1021 ± 43d | 547 ± 26c |
| 15 | 12 ± 0.2d | 11 ± 0.3e | 367 ± 10ab | 426 ± 9ab | 574 ± 10c | 625 ± 6d | 800 ± 11c | 905 ± 17e |
| 20 | 15 ± 0.1e | 10 ± 0.1d | 425 ± 39b | 411 ± 4a | 616 ± 19d | 640 ± 7e | 1032 ± 4d | 821 ± 20d |
| p-value | *** | *** | * | ** | *** | *** | *** | *** |
GAE, Gallic acid equivalent; TE, Trolox equivalent; nd, not detectable; -, blanching treatment not applied; t0, uncooked sample; p-value: *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01; ***, p < 0.001; within each cooking trial, values followed by different letters in the same column are significantly different (p < 0.05).