A team of Spanish researchers set out to determine the best and healthiest of cooking fungi. To do so, they put to the test four standard methods. Then, they compared their results on four different types of mushrooms.
Research results were released in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition. Its tests were carried out on the four most commonly eaten types of fungi at a worldwide level. Namely, they tested the shiitake, white button, oyster, and king oyster mushrooms. These were either grilled, deep fried, microwaved or boiled.
Fungi Should be Grilled or Microwaved to Maintain their Nutritional Value
The team determined that you can make the most out of a mushroom’s nutritional value by choosing to the shortest preparation times. Mushrooms are both rich in fiber, antioxidants, and protein content and low in fat and calories. So their cooking method is quite important as it may result in either a partial, total, or nonexistent loss of nutritional properties.
The Spanish researchers compared the fungi’s antioxidant levels in cooked and raw mushrooms. Which revealed that boiling them in large quantities of water enhanced their betaglucans fraction but decreased their antioxidant value.
Fried mushrooms were noted to suffer the highest losses in both protein and carbohydrate content, while their fat and energy levels rose.
Grilling and microwaving were noted to have the best cooking results. These methods resulted in the highest antioxidant activity values while also sustaining the least losses. The team considers that these results could be based on the fact that such methods require fewer liquids. These can reduce the final, cooked product’s nutritional value and properties.
“[..] the adequate selection of the culinary method is a key factor to preserve the nutritional profile of this highly consumed food,” stated Irene Roncero, one of the study authors.
The team also found that using some oil also helped bring out the fungi fatty acid while also maintaining a low-calorie content. But only in a small quantity, and olive oil seems to have the best effects.
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