Fruit, both fresh and frozen, is an excellent addition to your diet. Some fruits, on the other hand, may benefit more from being fresh rather than frozen, and vice versa. Find out more about the differences between Fresh and Frozen Fruits and Vegetables.
Fruit’s Healthy Advantages
If you consume a lot of veggies and fruits, you will gain the following benefits:
1. Lowering your blood pressure
2. Reducing your risk for heart disease or stroke
3. Preventing some kinds of cancer
4. Lowering your risk for eye and digestive problems
5. Improving your blood sugar levels
6. Aiding in weight management or weight loss
Frozen Fruit vs. Fresh Fruit: What’s the Difference?
Some fruits keep more nutrients when frozen, while others are best if you eat them fresh. Fresh and Frozen Fruits and Vegetables nutrients are at their greatest shortly after someone plucks them. The fruit retains its nutritious value since it is frozen quickly.
The nutritious value of fresh fruit may be same if it is truly fresh. Fresh and Frozen Fruits and Vegetables that has been transported and sat on store shelves for a long time may be depleted in nutrients.
When we consider these factors, the health advantages of fresh and frozen fruit are nearly identical. Nonetheless, there are some distinctions that make each one advantageous in its own manner.
Frozen fruit:-
Fruit is frozen when it is gathered at the peak of ripeness and quickly flash-frozen to preserve the nutritional value. Frozen fruit may last for months and is generally less expensive than fresh fruit that spoils quickly. You can take out as many pieces of frozen fruit as you need and save the rest for later.
Fruit that has been frozen is particularly advantageous because it has already been prepared for you. For your convenience, it is normally cleaned and presliced. When creating fruit-based recipes, this could save you time.
Frozen fruit is also excellent for adding to yoghurt and smoothies. Simply drop a handful of strawberry slices, for example, into your yoghurt bowl or blender, and enjoy your snack. If the fruits you want to use in these recipes aren’t in season, they can still be available frozen.
Also Read :- Types of fasting, its Benefits, and Cautions
Fresh fruit:-
Fresh fruit is more adaptable than frozen fruit because it is often in season. When frozen fruit thaws, the texture changes, but fresh fruit retains its natural texture better.
Fresh fruit has the advantage of being readily available when it is in season. There are many food guides available on the internet that will inform you what’s in season and when. You avoid the risk of fruits that rely on fertilisers or additives to grow out of season by purchasing in-season fruits.
Frozen and fresh fruit can have risks also.
Fruit’s advantages outweigh its drawbacks, but that doesn’t imply risks don’t exist. For starters, some fruits are high in sugar, which can be harmful to persons who have diabetes. They could also include bacteria that are hazardous, such as:
1. Salmonella
2. E. coli
3. Listeria
In fact, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that a major portion of all foodborne infections, or food poisoning. In the United States is caused by fresh produce that has not adequately washed before consumption. Cooking produces to kill pathogens, the safest method to eat it, yet most fruit not cooked before consumption.
Instead, make sure to thoroughly wash your produce before consuming it. Scrub the skin and make sure that each piece is properly washed. You can rinse your produce as soon as you get it home from the store or wait until you’re ready to use it to rinse it in individual parts.
Method to lower your risk of contracting a foodborne disease
1. Choosing fruit that isn’t crushed or damaged is a good way to start.
2. Fruit that has been pre-cut or that has been sliced and stored at home should be refrigerated to prevent bacteria from growing.
3. Keeping your fruit separate from other goods in your shopping cart, such as vegetables, meat, and dairy.
4. To avoid transferring bacteria to or from the fruit, clean all of your food preparation surfaces.
5. Clean your fruit with running water to remove bacteria.
6. Using disinfectant soap or bleach on your produce is not a good idea.
7. After washing your fruit, immediately dry it with a paper towel or clean dish towel.
8. Before eating your fruit, remove any damaged or bruised sections.
Also Read :- Best Vegetable Chopper Of 2022 And Their Uses
Keep in mind that some people are more prone to foodborne infections than others. Factors to consider include:
1. Being 65 years old or older
2. Being under the age of five
3. Experiencing health issues
4. Taking medicine that suppresses your immune system’s response
5. Being a pregnant
Processing, Harvest, and Transportation
Farmers and workers harvest most of the fruits and vegetables by hand, while machinery is responsible for a smaller portion of the harvesting. Nevertheless, what occurs after the harvest differs for fresh and frozen produce.
Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
Farmers typically pick most fresh fruits and vegetables before they are ripe to allow them to mature during transportation. However, harvesting produce too early can limit the time it has to develop a full range of vitamins, minerals, and natural antioxidants.
Fruits and vegetables in the US can spend 3 days to several weeks in transportation before arriving at a distribution center. The USDA approves the storage of some produce, such as apples and pears, for up to 12 months under controlled conditions, which limits nutrient development.
Fresh produce undergoes transportation in a chilled and controlled atmosphere while treated with chemicals to prevent spoilage. After reaching supermarkets, fruits and vegetables are displayed for 1-3 days. Then stored in people’s homes for up to 7 days before consumption, ultimately reducing their nutrient content.
To summarize, growers usually harvest fresh fruits and vegetables before they are fully ripe, and these food items may go through a transportation and storage period ranging from 3 days to 12 months for certain types of produce.
Frozen Fruit and Vegetables
The process of freezing fruits and vegetables begins with picking them at their peak ripeness, which is when they are most nutritious. The producers complete a series of procedures, including washing, blanching, cutting, freezing, and packaging within a few hours after harvesting the produce.
Usually, blanching is not performed for fruits because it can alter their texture. Instead, producers may use ascorbic acid or sugar to prevent spoilage, and they generally do not add any chemicals before freezing. In summary, frozen fruits and vegetables typically chosen at their optimal ripeness and then undergo a series of procedures like washing, blanching, freezing, and packaging that occur within hours of harvest.
The processing of frozen produce can lead to the loss of certain vitamins
Freezing is generally an effective way to preserve the nutrient content of fruits and vegetables. If you store frozen produce for more than a year, some nutrients may start to degrade. Before freezing, the vegetables undergo blanching, which involves boiling them for a few minutes.
This process can lead to a loss of certain nutrients, particularly water-soluble vitamins like vitamin C and B-vitamins. This loss of nutrients can range from 10-80%, with an average of around 50%. While blanching helps to kill harmful bacteria and preserve flavor, color, and texture, it can also result in a significant loss of antioxidants.
Frozen fruits, on the other hand, do not undergo blanching. Although some research suggests that frozen produce may retain its antioxidant activity despite the loss of water-soluble vitamins, the extent of nutrient loss can vary depending on the type of vegetable and the duration of blanching.
In summary, blanching can lead to a loss of antioxidants, B-vitamins, and vitamin C. However, nutrient levels generally remain stable after freezing.
The nutrient content of both fresh and frozen produce tends to decrease over time during storage
Fresh fruits and vegetables start to lose moisture, have a higher risk of spoiling and decline in nutrient value shortly after being harvested.
Research indicates that refrigeration for as little as three days can result in a decline in nutrients, with levels falling below those found in frozen varieties. This is particularly noticeable in soft fruits.
The vitamin C content of fresh vegetables begins to decrease immediately after harvesting and continues to do so during storage. Green peas can experience a vitamin C loss of up to 51% within the initial 24-48 hours after harvesting.
Studies have shown that some fruits exhibit increased levels of carotenoids and phenolics due to continued ripening, while antioxidant activity in vegetables stored at chilled or room temperature generally decreases.
In summary, certain vitamins and antioxidants start to decline immediately after harvesting, making it best to consume fresh fruits and vegetables as soon as possible.
Which is more nutritious: Fresh produce or frozen produce?
Studies comparing the nutrient content of fresh and frozen produce have shown slight variations in results. The differences may arise due to the use of freshly harvested produce in some studies, which removes the impact of storage and transportation, whereas others use produce from supermarkets.
The methods used for processing and measuring can also affect the outcome. However, in general, research suggests that freezing can help maintain nutrient value and that fresh and frozen produce have similar nutritional content.
Fresh and frozen produce have comparable levels of vitamin A, carotenoids, vitamin E, minerals, and fiber, although small decreases in some nutrients one can observe in some frozen produce.
Blanching generally does not affect them. Studies comparing supermarket produce with frozen varieties such as peas, green beans, carrots, spinach, and broccoli have found that their antioxidant activity and nutrient content are similar.
Frozen produce may have a higher vitamin C
Some studies indicate that frozen produce may contain more of certain nutrients compared to fresh produce that one can store at home for a few days. This is particularly true for frozen peas or spinach, which may have more vitamin C than fresh produce that you can store for a few days.
Some studies have found that freeze drying certain fruits can increase their vitamin C content. Furthermore, freezing fresh produce may increase fiber availability by making it more soluble, according to one study.
