What is the consequence of deeply cooking or boiling onions if the resulting cooking liquid is subsequently discarded?
Answer
Water-soluble vitamins and heat-sensitive flavonoids leach into the cooking liquid.
When onions are subjected to prolonged exposure to water, especially through boiling, many of their beneficial components become prone to leaching out of the vegetable matrix. This includes essential water-soluble vitamins, such as Vitamin C, and certain heat-sensitive flavonoids, like Quercetin. If this cooking liquid—now enriched with these nutrients—is discarded rather than utilized, the consumer loses a significant portion of the onion's potential nutritional advantage. A superior method to retain these nutrients involves incorporating the cooking liquid into a final dish, such as a soup or broth.
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