FRUITS AND VEGETABLES LESSON COOKERY NC2

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

The Basic of Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits – are fleshy juicy products of plants that contain seed, when ripe, they are edible even
without cooking.

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.

The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non- technical usage, such as food
preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are
sweet and edible in the raw state, such as apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries, juniper berries
and bananas. Seed- associated structures that do not fit these informal criteria are usually
called by other names, such as vegetables, pods, nut, ears and cones.

In botany, a "fruit" is a part of a flowering plant that derives from specific tissues of the flower,
mainly one or more ovaries. Taken strictly, this definition excludes many structures that are
"fruits" in the common sense of the term, such as those produced by non- flowering plants (like
juniper berries, which are the seed- containing female cones of conifers, and fleshy fruit-like
growths that develop from other plant tissues close to the fruit (accessory fruit, or more rarely
false fruit or pseudocarp), such as cashew fruits. Often the botanical fruit is only part of the
common fruit, or is merely adjacent to it. On the other hand, the botanical sense includes many
structures that are not commonly called "fruits", such as bean pods, corn kernels, wheat grains,
tomatoes, and many more. However, there are several variants of the biological definition of fruit
that emphasize different aspects of the enormous variety that is found among plant fruits.

Vegetables – are plants or parts of a plant such as roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, shoots, leaves,
fruits and flowers. It can be used raw or cooked, served generally with an entrée or in salads.

The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or
seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant.

However, the word is not scientific, and its meaning is largely based on culinary and cultural
tradition. Therefore, the application of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. For
example, some people consider mushrooms to be vegetables, while others consider them a
separate food category.

Some vegetables can be consumed raw, some may be eaten cooked, as some must be cooked
in order to be edible. Vegetables are most often cooked in savory or salty dishes. However, a
few vegetables are often used in desserts and other sweet dishes, such as rhubarb pie and
carrot cake.

Nutritive Value of Fruits and Vegetables

o Fruits are high in water content

Water is one of the essential nutrients to life. You cannot live long without water. There are
many ways to get water without having to drink it every day, plain from the tap, or from a store-
bought bottle. But did you know, you could also get the water you need from fruit and veggies?

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o Fair sources to excellent sources of calories (due to their sugars)

Fruits and vegetables contain the highest healthy vitamins, minerals, and calories needed by
the body. It contains natural sugars that do no harm the body but make sure to consume this in
moderation because anything that is too much is not good.

o Contains fiber, which aids the digestive process

Digestion is the body's process for breaking down foods that you have eaten. Some elements of
these foods are used to produce energy and the remaining waste is prepared for excretion.

Eating the recommended number of servings of dietary fiber each day is healthy. Dietary fiber is
essential to the digestive process. Fruits, vegetables are sources of dietary fiber. The
U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that female adults consume 1½ cups of fruit and
2½ cups of vegetables each day. Male adults should consume 2 cups of fruits and 3 cups of
vegetables.

o Rich sources of essential minerals and vitamins

The human body requires various nutrients on a daily basis, so that it can meet its day to day
demands. Vitamins and minerals are absolutely essential for the proper functioning of the body.
Therefore, most dieticians, doctors and health experts recommend that the foods we eat on a
daily basis should be good sources of vitamins and minerals. Fruits and vegetables are known
to contain essential minerals and vitamins.

Pigments or Color Components in Fruits and Vegetables

PIGMENT ACID BASE SOLUBILITY IN H2O

(Remarks)
Chlorophyll yellow green Intense green Insoluble to
(Green) H2O
(olive green)
Most stable
pigment

Carotenoids Stable Stable Insoluble to H2O

(yellow, orange) (not affected) (not affected) Soluble in fats

Flavonoids (white) White yellow Water soluble

Anthocyanin Red blue Water soluble

(red, blue, purple)

***Addition of soda is not advisable because it softens cellulose readily and tends to make the
vegetable mushy and increase destruction of vitamins especially B-vitamins.

Lycopene – red pigment in tomatoes

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Capxanthin – red pigment in red pepper

In carrots or sweet potatoes, the darkening of color is due to caramelization of sugar and not on
the reaction of the pigments.

Flavor Component in Fruits and Vegetables

 Sugars – The component of fruits and vegetables are mostly glucose.
 Glutamic acid – It is responsible for the taste of fresh young vegetables.
 Organic acid – It is the sour taste in fruits and vegetable
o Examples
• citric acid – orange
• malic acid – apples and green leaves
 Flavonones – bitter taste
 Sulfur-containing compounds – responsible for odor
o Examples: onions – prophenylsulfenic acid
• garlic – alienate
• cabbage – sinigrin
 Tannins and phenolic compounds – astringent taste
o Example: tea, coffee, cocoa

How to control quality changes during cooking:

Cooking vegetables and fruits also has its own set of rules to be remembered. The changes that
happen during cooking should be understood so that one can control the effects of heat in
vegetables.

The changes that will happen during the cooking process will affect the final product of the
prepared dish, its attractiveness and taste. These changes are controllable when you
understand how and why they happen.

There are four ways cooking affect changes in vegetables and fruits, these are:

o Texture

Factors that affect changes in texture are the following:

 Fiber
• Is made firmer by acids (lemon juice, vinegar, and tomato products-for vegetables), this
extends the cooking time. And sugars that strengthen cell structure.
• Is softened by heat (anything cooked for a longer period of time produces softer
vegetables or fruits) and alkalis (do not add baking soda to green vegetables which can make
the vegetables unpleasantly mushy).
 Starch
• Dry starchy food like dried legumes (beans, peas, chickpeas, monggo, lentils) must be
cooked in the right amount of water so that it can absorb moisture and achieve its right
tenderness. Dried legumes have to be soaked in water for a period of time before cooking to
regain lost moisture.
• Moist starchy vegetables and fruits such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams have
moisture of their won, but they still have to be cooked until starch granules soften.

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 Doneness

• The doneness in cooking vegetables and fruits varies. There are some vegetables that
are considered done only when they are very tender or soft in texture such as squash, eggplant,
dried gabi leaves, sayote, and string beans. However, there are some vegetables that require to
be crispy in texture such as cabbage, kang-kong, sweet pea, Baguio beans. The doneness in
cooking vegetables and fruits will not only produce the right texture but will also retain its flavor,
color, and nutrients.

Some guidelines for achieving proper doneness:

 Do not overcook
Have uniform-sized cuts
 Cook tough and tender parts of the vegetables separately (kang-kong leaves and stalks,
broccoli flowers and stalks)
 Do not mix batches of cooked vegetables and fruits, these batches will cook the
vegetables and fruits in varying degrees of doneness

o Flavor

The flavor of vegetables and fruits may be lost during the cooking process by dissolving in water
and by evaporation. Chances are more flavor is lost when cooking time is longer.

Some guidelines how flavor loss can be controlled:

 Have shorter cooking time

 Use boiling salted water. Cooking in boiling water will shorten the cooking time, while the
salt added will reduce flavor loss.
 Use just enough water to cover to minimize leaching.
 Steam vegetables whenever appropriate. Steaming reduces leaching out of flavor and
shortens cooking time.

Cooking produces flavor changes in vegetables because of the chemical changes that happen.
However overcooking vegetables may lead to undesirable flavor.

o Color

Keeping the natural color of vegetables during cooking should always be in mind. The way
vegetables are presented must be palatable to the diner. Remember that the aesthetic quality of
vegetables is as important as its flavor or nutritional value.

As discussed earlier, the pigments or color in vegetables or fruits change during cooking. The
change in color will depend on how vegetables or fruits are cooked.

o Nutrients

We get most of the essential nutrients, such as Vitamins A and C and other minerals, which we
need from eating vegetables and fruits. Unfortunately, when we have to cook them, most of the
nutrients are lost.

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Factors that are Responsible for Nutrients Loss:

o High temperature – such when steaming. Steaming shortens the cooking time, but the high
temperature destroys some of its nutrients.

o Long cooking – such as braising. Although this cooking method uses low temperature, the
long cooking time also destroys some of its nutrients.

o Leaching – baking eliminates leaching out of vitamins and minerals, but long cooking and
high temperature can cause loss of some nutrients. Or by cutting vegetables or fruits into
small pieces can decrease cooking time, however it can increase leaching because of more
exposed surfaces.

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