Effect of domestic cooking on the red cabbage hydrophilic antioxidants

Abstract

Summary The contents of vitamin C, total phenolics, anthocyanins, hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids as well as 2,2′‐azinobis‐(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulfonic acid) monocation radical scavenging activity were evaluated in two varieties of red cabbage before and after conventional and steam‐cooking. During the conventional cooking 32.7–64.5% of vitamin C and 45.7–66.9% of total phenolics were retained in cooked tissue. Decreasing cooking water volume by half led to better retention of both phenolics (by 2.7–14.5%) and vitamin C (by 14.2–18.4%). However, shortening the cooking time by half affected the retention of phenolics and vitamin C only by 3.8–6.7% and 0–2.2%, respectively. Steam‐cooking is recommended to prevent the major loss of scavenging activity, because under these conditions, the corresponding TEAC (Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity) values were reduced only by 5–20%. Moreover, the content of vitamin C was decreased by 2.1–22.7% while losses of total phenolics were up to 10%. The phenolics are the major source of free radical scavenging activity of red cabbage, since the contribution of vitamin C to TEAC for fresh and cooked red cabbage was from 18.2 to 28.5%.