They are good for our skin and our heart, and boost our immune system. Food rich in Vitamin C is essential for a balanced diet: here is how to store their nutrients
The correct quantity of ascorbic acid an adult should intake, on average, is 60g a day. If you want to be sure to get it every day, you could eat a medium-sized kiwi or a couple of oranges; however, if you want to fill up on Vitamin C, you need to have a healthy, balanced and varied diet!
Discover how to store and cook food rich in Vitamin C!
Where's Vitamin C?
In order to get the right quantity of ascorbic acid, you need to know what food is rich in Vitamin C. Here is the food you should always have in your refrigerator.
- Where are the highest quantities of Vitamin C? In currants, for instance, and in kiwis especially, which have more than oranges, despite common places. Even papaya is especially rich in Vitamin C, more so than lemons or tangerines. Moreover, good news for strawberry lovers: they contain a high quantity of ascorbic acid, even higher than grapefruit. And let's not forget lychees, these small tropical fruits are real concentrates of Vitamin C.
- Among vegetables, chilli and bell peppers rank first. Even parsley is a precious resource, and ideal to season your dishes. Broccoli rabe, carrots, rocket, cabbage and broccolis – all purifying foods - are ideal for your Vitamin C intake. In the root vegetables category, potatoes are the ones with the highest Vitamin C content.
Food rich in Vitamin C, how to store them
Storage shouldn't be underestimated. Indeed, fruit and vegetables can be subject to great vitamin losses, if stored for too long. Therefore, you should be familiar with the different storage methods and related vitamin losses that food undergoes.
- Freezing: vegetables can lose up to 25%their ascorbic acid.
- Canned storage: it entails Vitamin C losses up to 20%, during the sterilization phase.
- Dehydration: the ascorbic acid contained in food can diminish by 10-15%.
How to preserve food nutrients?
To store food, the ideal temperature is between 0° and -2°C, with a level of humidity between 90 and 98%. Appliances play an essential role: Hoover refrigerators allow you to select the ideal cooling intensity, thanks to the user-friendly Touch electronic controls. In addition, Care+Protect rapid action de-icer prevents any ice build-ups in the refrigerator that limit its efficiency.
Even cooking can cause vitamin losses in food; therefore, you should know at what temperature vitamins die. Vitamin C is heat-labile, i.e. it does not resist to heat, and it starts deteriorating at 60°C. Boiling promotes vitamin dispersion into water, and microwave cooking is preferable instead, as it increases the retention of minerals contained in plant-based ingredients. With Hoover microwave ovens, you can set the best cooking program, based on the weight of the food you are cooking.
Now you just need to put all those tips into practice, to fill up on Vitamin C and feel full of energy!
