Institute of Sciences of Food Production, CNR-National Research Council of Italy , Bari , Italy and.
Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2013 Nov;64(7):870-6. doi: 10.3109/09637486.2013.799125. Epub 2013 May 24.
Wild edible plants (WEP), traditionally consumed in the Mediterranean diet, are considered a rich source of natural antioxidants but can also accumulate significant amount of nitrates. Most WEP are cooked before consumption, therefore, a study was conducted to evaluate the effects of boiling, steaming and microwave cooking processes on the total antioxidant activity (TAA) and nitrate content of eight common WEP. Boiling caused the highest losses of TAA, resulting in a reduction of the TAA on dry weight (DW) basis ranging from 5.5% in Beta vulgaris up to 100% in Urtica dioica. Steaming and microwaving produced the highest increase of TAA on DW basis in Helminthotheca echioides (249.7%) and Taraxacum officinale (60.7%). Boiling caused the highest reduction of nitrate content in all species excluding Asparagus acutifolius that maintained almost unvaried its already low nitrate content. These results suggest that cooking has not always negative effect on product quality, since in certain cases, it may even enhance the nutritional value of WEP by increasing their TAA and reducing the nitrate content.
野生食用植物（WEP）是地中海饮食中的传统食材，被认为是天然抗氧化剂的丰富来源，但也可能积累大量的硝酸盐。大多数 WEP 在食用前都要经过烹饪，因此，进行了一项研究来评估煮沸、蒸煮和微波烹饪过程对八种常见 WEP 的总抗氧化活性（TAA）和硝酸盐含量的影响。煮沸导致 TAA 的损失最高，导致按干重（DW）计算的 TAA 减少 5.5%，在蕺菜中达到 100%。按 DW 计算，蒸煮和微波烹饪使 Helminthotheca echioides（249.7%）和 Taraxacum officinale（60.7%）的 TAA 增加最多。除了 Asparagus acutifolius 外，煮沸导致所有物种的硝酸盐含量降低，而 Asparagus acutifolius 已经维持了其本来就很低的硝酸盐含量。这些结果表明，烹饪并不总是对产品质量产生负面影响，因为在某些情况下，它甚至可以通过增加 TAA 和减少硝酸盐含量来提高 WEP 的营养价值。
