Discuss three tips for handling and cooking fruits and vegetables to prevent the loss of vitamins

Answer 1

• Shop for produce at least once a week. The longer fruits and vegetables stay in your refrigerator before being eaten, the more nutrients are likely to be lost.
• Store fruits and vegetables (other than bananas, tomatoes, and potatoes) in your refrigerator rather than in a fruit bowl or on the kitchen counter. Chilling slows the metabolic rate of the cells of a fruit or vegetable, which in turn causes the cells to use less of their own nutrients. Thus, chilling prevents nutrient depletion.
• Store fruits and vegetables whole, peeling and cutting only what you need immediately before cooking or eating. Once you cut into the skin of an item and expose it to air, vitamin loss begins. After slicing, the vitamin C content of oranges, grapefruits, tomatoes, and strawberries begins to decline. If you do have leftover cut produce, wrap it tightly in airtight plastic or store it in an airtight container inside the refrigerator.
• Try to eat frozen vegetables within a month or two of purchase, because nutrient losses occur over time in stored vegetables.
•??Cook vegetables in the least amount of water and for the shortest period of time possible. Water-soluble vitamins readily dissolve into cooking water, and heat destroys some as well. To minimize such losses, steam vegetables over water, or cook vegetables in a microwave oven.