Abstract
Cooking of frozen baby food is currently widespread among child-rearing parents.
We examined the effects of freezing and two methods of thawing (by boiling or using microwaves) the vegetables. Carrot and spinach samples were cut, boiled, and frozen in a household refrigerator. The frozen vegetables were thawed by either boiling or heating using a microwave oven.
Then, we examined the texture, weight change, and nutritional value of the defrosted food.
The weight change of carrot and spinach was higher after boiling than after microwave thawing. In addition, the hardness of the thawed food product was higher after boiling than after microwave thawing. Boiling led to a higher loss of nutritional value with respect to iron and water-soluble vitamins.
Thus, we confirmed that compared to boiling, microwave thawing is more desirable as a cooking method for frozen baby foods, in terms of retention of nutritional value and convenience.
