Effect of Cooking Methods on Vitamin C and Nitrate and in-Vitro Digestion of Broccoli

This study explored the effect of six different cooking methods (steaming, roasting, microwave, combined mode, inductor cooker steaming and inductor cooker) on the retention and absorption of vitamin C and nitrate of broccoli during in-vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion, in search of healthy cooking technology which was easy to digestion and absorption. The results showed that the cooking time of the induction cooker (1~3 min) was the shortest while the one for roasting (6~11 min) was the longest in achieving the same maturity of broccoli. In addition, the samples treated with microwave or steaming had the highest retention and digestion of vitamin C, and the samples of roasted, combined mode or induction cooker steaming displayed the highest retention and absorption rate of nitrate. Therefore, inductor cooker steaming mode (P5 and P9) was considered the most suitable method in cooking broccoli to obtain the most appropriate digestion and absorption of vitamin C and nitrate.