Also because of the fast, frozen foods are increasingly on our tables. According to a survey of the Italian-Astarea frozen foods, are consumed by 92% of Italians. Among the products on the rise, there are also the most healthy, like vegetables and fish. But if, for the latter, the frozen is often a forced choice, in the case of plants, can be found everywhere and in all seasons, it would be better to focus on fresh ones? First, a clarification: the nutritional value of food depends only partly suffered from the treatment (in the case of frozen products, a brief blanching to inactivate enzymes that degrade the product, followed by an ultra-fast freezing) are in fact other elements that come into play. Much depends on the variety of the plant (often used varieties for the fresh and frozen) and the degree of maturation of the crop at harvest.The products are processed when they are frozen at the peak of maturity , which is the highest nutritional value (especially vitamin A LOOK AT THE TABLE ), while fresh vegetables that need to "travel" are often picked unripe. Count also the area of origin and the time between harvest and consumption, and this applies even more for the fresh frozen. In summary, we can say that, while stable for some substances, such as minerals, fiber, carotenoids, no significant differences between fresh and frozen, the situation is different for other substances, first of all the vitamin C that, for its "sensitivity" is often used as an indicator of the nutritional value of the maintenance of a plant. A vegetable or a legume fresh ripe and freshly picked has no equal, but since the "fresh" is often less fresh than we think, the frozen may have a higher nutritional value. "If you are not sure that you have really fresh food - confirmed Paolo Simonetti, a professor of nutrition at the community DISTAM-University of Milan - the frozen is definitely a good choice, since it provides nutrient inputs comparable with the best product cool. The only care to follow is to distinguish the frozen products "natural", like vegetables, compared to products already cooked and ready for use, which often have too much sodium. "
