The Effect of Different Cooking Methods on the Vitamin C Content of Spinach with Minced Meat

Abstract

This study has been carried out to determine the vitamin C content o f different spinach rneals with minced meat that is often used in h o sp ita l's kitehens. İn the fırst step o f this study, the preparation and the cooking methods o f spinach meals with minced meat in 22 hospitals in Ankara were determined by using a questionnaire and observation methods.In the second step o f this study, vitamin C analysis o f the cooked spinach meals with minced meat that are generally used 6 different cooking methods in mass catering conditions were evaluated by using spectrofotometric methods. The vitamin C contents o f spinach meals cooked by different methods were compared with raw mbeture. According to the S ta n dard preparation method (washing + chopping + cooking in the sta in less Steel (SS) saucepatı (method 1), the vitamin C losses was 57.9 % a the Standard preparation method + cooking in the pressure cooker (method 2), 39.7 % with chopping + washing + cooking in the SS saucepan (method 3), 96.5 % with washing + boiling + squeezing + chopping + cooking in the SS saucepan (method 4) and washing + chopping + leaving in the cold store fo r 1 tıight + cooking in the SS saucepan (method 5) and 18.0 % in leaving in the water with chloride + washing + chopping + cooking in the SS saucepan (method 6) respectively. At the end o f this study, the highest vitamin C lev e l (8.8 mg/100 g) has been fo u n d with method 1; the lowest vitamin C (0.3 mg/100 g) losses fo u n d with the methods 4 and 5. Findings o f this study had shown that in mass catering practices, different preparing and cooking methods that were applied to the spinach, meals affected the loss rate o f the vitamin C.