Study: Frying in Olive Oil Improves Nutritional Value

Vegetables fried in olive oil have greater nutritional value than boiled vegetables, and may help to prevent cancer, diabetes, and macular degeneration, according to recent research.

In order to determine the effects of various cooking methods on the nutritional value of vegetables consumed as part of the Mediterranean diet, researchers cooked 120 grams of potato, pumpkin, tomato, and eggplant. Each sample was fried, boiled, or boiled in a mixture of olive oil and water.
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Using high-performance liquid chromatography, researchers measured the levels of phenolic compounds present in each of the vegetables after cooking.

Overall, frying the vegetables in extra-virgin olive oil increased their fat content and reduced their moisture, but also increased levels of phenolic compounds and antioxidants over boiling in water alone.

"Therefore, we can confirm that frying is the method that produces the greatest associated increases in the phenolic fraction, which means an improvement in the cooking process although it increases the energy density by means of the absorbed oil," researchers said.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

University of Granada. A research proves that vegetables fried with olive oil have more healthy properties than boiled ones [press release]. January 20, 2016. http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=160177&CultureCode=en.