Scientific studies have proven that about 90-95 percent of the total amount of vitamins the human body receives due to a balanced diet. The urgent question of at what temperature vitamin C breaks down often arises during colds due to the need to strengthen the immune system and effectively fight viruses.
Ascorbic acid is an important factor in health and well-being.
This powerful antioxidant not only regulates redox reactions, but also normalizes blood coagulation and capillary permeability, and has anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory effects.
An important role is played by
vitamin C in the synthesis of collagen, catecholamines and steroid hormones. In addition, it regulates the metabolic processes associated with calcium, iron and folic acid, improving their digestibility. This vitamin is the most important factor in protecting the body from the effects of stress and its effects. Therefore, the question of under what conditions and at what temperature vitamin C is destroyed worries almost everyone, including residents of megalopolises, remote cities and rural settlements.
The main causes of the destruction of vitamin C
Heat treatment of most products has a beneficial effect on their quality: improves taste, softens the structure, destroys harmful microbes and toxins. Boiled, stewed, baked, steamed and even fried foods are much safer than raw foods. It is able to protect a person from digestive problems (intestinal disorders and pancreatic disorders). But what temperature destroys vitamin C, which is so necessary for the human body? And what other factors affect the destructive processes in ascorbic acid?
Water-soluble
vitamin C is the most unstable compound that can decompose even after prolonged storage, negatively reacting to any chemical and physical influences.
Ascorbic acid is easily oxidized. Its preparations can not be stored in metal containers, since when it comes into contact with tara, the acid reacts. Vitamin C should also not be exposed to light, heat, high humidity, contact with oxygen, which contributes to its destruction. The presence of this vitamin in products decreases at any temperature, but to a different extent.
What does science say?
The molecule of ascorbic acid, according to a number of researchers, is completely destroyed at a temperature of 191-192 ° F (88-89 ° C), but only one of its isomers (L-ascorbic acid), or vitamin C, is a natural substance, has biological activity contained in vegetables and fruits. Its quantity is affected by the duration of transportation and the shelf life of products, their protection from air and light, and other parameters.
After buying vegetables or fruits, it matters whether they are stored in the refrigerator or not, in whole or chopped form, how long they are cooked and at what temperature. Vitamin C is destroyed from a threshold of 60-70 degrees, but is resistant to an acidic environment. Salads (cold and hot) with lemon juice, main dishes with the addition of tomatoes or tomato paste preserve this vitamin much better than the first dishes with a high liquid content, but without acidic ingredients. Drying, slicing, prolonged heating of products in a pan with an open lid, reheating of dishes, copper or iron cookware actively destroy a powerful antioxidant.
The experiment with the "right" water and express rosehip infusion
The use of distilled water instead of tap water helps to significantly preserve vitamin C during short-term boiling. An American chemical student conducted an experiment: in one cup of distillate, he dissolved 1 teaspoon of ascorbic acid to obtain a concentration of 2-2.5%. As a result, the measuring device showed 2.17%. The researcher covered the container with the solution with thermal film tightly and left a small hole for the release of steam. He briefly heated a cup of ascorbic acid (no more than 2 minutes) in a microwave, then cooled for 5 minutes and refrigerated. After 75 minutes, when the solution cooled to room temperature, he again measured the concentration of vitamin C. Due to short-term evaporation, this indicator increased to 2.19%! For the same purpose, experts advise preparing express infusions of berries rich in vitamin C.
The maximum quantity of this vitamin is guaranteed to be preserved if the rosehip berries are quickly chopped, poured with boiled water with a temperature of no higher than 40-60 degrees, and then insisted for an hour in a tightly closed thermos. Prolonged boiling of rose hips destroys L-ascorbic acid, significantly reducing the value of the decoction compared to freshly squeezed juices and express infusions.
Hot tea and boiling lemon broth
In forums, one often encounters a question from hot tea lovers at what temperature vitamin C breaks down. Japanese researchers, contrary to the widespread belief that this popular drink cannot be boiled with boiling water, have proved that the L-isomer of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is slightly destroyed . Its concentration in the first quarter of an hour drops by only 30 percent in brewed tea at a constantly maintained boiling point, but already after an hour it disintegrates almost completely. Moreover, in ordinary boiling water, dissolved Vitamin C after 10 minutes is destroyed by 83 percent.
Experts explain this difference by the fact that tea phenol reacts with copper and iron ions, binding them, which prevents their influence on accelerating the decay of vitamin C. If it is necessary to prepare hot lemonade of 6 lemons, they are cut in half and thrown into boiling water . After 3 minutes, the container is left off the stove, the drink is infused for 10-15 minutes. Then filter it from fruits and pulp. This lemonade protects against colds and increases immunity if you drink it hot or warm, adding a little honey. Store the drink in the refrigerator, heat in the microwave for maximum preservation of ascorbic acid.
When preparing the first and second courses
Accurate data indicating at what temperature vitamin C breaks down in each particular dish does not exist. It is known that already at 50 degrees Celsius in the potato soup the concentration of ascorbic acid will begin to decrease if the pan is not covered and the vegetables are laid earlier than laid. According to the rules, they must be added to boiling salted water, and cover the dishes with a lid during cooking. The same should be done with frozen vegetables, because boiling water contains much less dissolved oxygen, which destroys vitamin C. In addition, a high boiling point activates, along with ascorbin oxidase, other useful plant enzymes that contribute to better preservation of the vitamin. In potatoes, boiled with boiling water and boiled in a peel, its amount decreases by about 10 percent. Less water also inhibits the destruction of the natural ascorbic acid.
So, for example, cabbage soup from sauerkraut after cooking for an hour lose 50% of the powerful antioxidant, and stewed cabbage - only 15%. Tomatoes, cooked for 2 minutes in a microwave or oven (at a temperature of 90 degrees), lose only 10 percent of the vital substance. The same tomatoes, cooked for half an hour, lose about 29-30% of vitamin C. Steamed vegetables get rid of 22-34% of the valuable vitamin, and in the microwave - 10% for the same period of time.
At what temperature does vitamin C break down in cherry plum?
The benefits of this well-known plum are especially noticeable in the cold season. Its diaphoretic and antitussive effects are appreciated along with a pleasant taste and many other healing properties. Tkemali, as they call Vishnesliva in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, contains few sugars, but it contains citric and malic acids, vitamins of groups B, A, E and PP. It is rich in cherry plum with pectins, calcium, magnesium, sodium, iron, phosphorus. In addition, it is a real storehouse of vitamin C. The temperature of its destruction also depends on all the above factors. For example, cherry plum compote will contain much less of this valuable substance than tkemali sauce, because in a large amount of water the described vitamin is destroyed faster than in seasoning without additional liquid. Cherry plum is a powerful source of ascorbic acid also because other acids in its fruits prevent the breakdown of water-soluble vitamin.
The reaction of other beneficial elements to heating
The second, no less important "anti-cold vitamin" doctors consider vitamin D, which is recommended to be taken with rosehip infusion. Off-season fish oil, vegetable oils and cheese should be on every table. At what temperature does vitamin D break down? During heat treatment, fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) practically do not decrease their activity and are not destroyed. At the same time, vitamin D can withstand boiling for a long time in an acidic environment, and in an alkaline environment it is subject to rapid destruction. It is known that at a temperature of +232 degrees in the oven, the cheese loses up to 25-30% of the "anti-cold" vitamin within 5 minutes. Rosehip is known to contain, in addition to vitamin C, vitamin P (rutin). This substance enhances the action of ascorbic acid, and their combined use is necessary when prescribing aspirin with sulfonamides for a beneficial, restoring effect on capillaries. The answer to the question at what temperature vitamin P breaks down is similar to recommendations related to ascorbic acid. These two vitamins are largely identical: both are water-soluble, afraid of sunlight, exposure to oxygen and the same temperature. Besides rose hips, rutin is also found in lemons. Complementing and strengthening each other, these vitamins are also indicated with prolonged antibiotic therapy.