Effect of Cooking Methods on Chlorophyll Content in Selected Vegetables

Chlorophylls are bright green natural pigments which were widely distributed among plants, select bacteria, green fruits and vegetables. Chlorophyll has anti inflammatory, antioxidant, and wound healing property. The effect of three cooking methods, commonly used in house hold level including blanching, cooking with lid and cooking without lid on the chlorophyll content of green chillies, capsicum and kovai were investigated. 5 grams of sample was taken for all the cooking methods, after cooking all the samples were analyzed for chlorophyll content. The results showed that all cooking methods caused significant losses i.e., above 80% on total chlorophyll content. The high percent of chlorophyll loss was seen when vegetables were cooked with lid. Minimum losses were seen in Vegetables cooked without lid. Kovai was more susceptible to all cooking methods where maximum loss of chlorophyll was seen when compared with capsicum and green chillies. Minimum losses were seen in green chillies when cooked without lid. The present study concluded that vegetable cooked without lid showed better cooking quality aspects in terms of colour, texture and weights, through this the loss of the chlorophyll were retained.