Indian department of agriculture Table of Nutrient Retention Factors

Introduction
Food composition data are needed for both uncooked and cooked forms of foods. The
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) provides nutrient retention factors for various
cooking methods commonly used in India. These factors can be used to estimate the
nutrient content of cooked foods from the nutrient content of uncooked foods.

Methods
ICAR's nutrient retention factors are based on data from ICAR research contracts, data
reported in scientific publications, and ICAR publications. Most retention factors were
calculated by the True Retention Method (%TR). This method, as shown below, requires data
on the weights of food before and after cooking, as well as the content of the nutrient of raw
and cooked food (Murphy et al.1975).

%TR = (NcGc) / (NrGr) * 100

If weights of food before and after cooking are unavailable, the retention factor can be
calculated on a moisture-free basis, the Apparent Retention Method (%AR):
%AR = [Nc (dry wt basis)] / [Nr (dry wt basis)] * 100

where:
Nc = nutrient content per g of cooked food,
Gc = g of cooked food,
Nr = nutrient content per g of raw food, and
Gr = g of food before cooking.

By applying retention factors to ingredients in a recipe, the estimated nutrient value will be
more accurate.
Example,
For example, assume a recipe calls for boiled spinach, but the ascorbic acid value for boiled
spinach is unknown. However, the ascorbic acid content in raw spinach is 28mg/100g. The
nutrient retention factor for boiled greens is 85%. The ascorbic acid value for 100g of boiled
spinach can be estimated by multiplying the ascorbic acid value of raw spinach by the
nutrient retention factor:
(28mg ascorbic acid per 100g raw spinach) * 0.85 = 23.8 mg of ascorbic acid per 100g
cooked spinach.
Nutrient Retention Factors
ICAR's nutrient retention factors are available for a variety of foods and cooking methods.
The following table provides examples of nutrient retention factors for selected vitamins and
minerals:
Product Cooking Carotenoids Carbohydrates Fiber
Product Name Method Vitamins (mg) (g) (g)
Food Chapati Fresh 100 100 25 2
Food Chapati Baked 93 96 20 1.6
Food Chapati Frozen 96.5 98 22.5 1.8
Food Dal Fresh 100 100 30 3
Food Dal Baked 93 96 24 2.4
Food Dal Frozen 96.5 98 27 2.7
Food Rice Fresh 100 100 40 1
Food Rice Baked 93 96 32 0.8
Food Rice Frozen 96.5 98 36 0.9
vegetable Broccoli Fresh 100 100 6 3
vegetable Broccoli Baked 93 96 5.4 2.7
vegetable Broccoli Frozen 96.5 98 8.1 3.6
vegetable Carrots Fresh 100 100 9 4
vegetable Carrots Baked 93 96 7.2 3.2
vegetable Carrots Frozen 96.5 98 8.4 3.6
vegetable Spinach Fresh 100 100 3 2
vegetable Spinach Baked 93 96 2.4 1.6
vegetable Spinach Frozen 96.5 98 2.7 1.8
fruit Strawberries Fresh 100 100 25 2
fruit Strawberries Baked 93 96 20 1.6
fruit Strawberries Frozen 96.5 98 22.5 1.8
fruit Oranges Fresh 100 100 40 1
fruit Oranges Baked 93 96 32 0.8
fruit Oranges Frozen 96.5 98 36 0.9
fruit Kiwi Fresh 100 100 30 3
fruit Kiwi Baked 93 96 24 2.4
Fruit Kiwi Frozen 96.5 98 27 2.7
INTRODUCTION (CONTD..)

• Increase in per capita income and purchasing power.

• A largely untapped domestic market of 1210 Million Consumers

• 300 Million Upper and Middle Class consume processed food

• Increasing number of working women.

• Well developed infrastructure and distribution network.

• Fast expansion of electronic and print media.

• Annual growth rate of the industry is around 9-12%.

• Employs around 2 million people (as of 2005)

Comparision of fresh , frozen , and canned fruits and vegetables

Commodity Fresh (mg/100g) Canned (mg/100g) Loss(%) Authors Year

Broccoli 90 81 10 Murcia et al. 2021
Corn 12 9 25 Dewanto et al. 2022
Carrots 3.3 2.65 81 Howard et al. 2018
Green peas 12 4.68 61 Weits et al. 2019
Spinach 38 27.36 28 Jiratanan and Liu 2023