Preferences for steaming of vegetables

Abstract

Background: Steaming retains vitamins and phytochemicals in vegetables better than boiling; thus, it is important to promote this cooking method. The present study aimed to determine what vegetable would be best to use in a campaign to promote steaming. Methods: Carrots, broccoli and green cabbage were boiled, steamed or microwave steamed. Untrained assessors (n = 50) evaluated the sensory properties of appearance, texture, taste and overall acceptability using a hedonic rating test on a scale from 1-9. Average scores for overall acceptability were calculated for each type of cooking according to the assessors' usual cooking method. Results: For all features, steaming and microwave steaming were rated significantly higher than boiling for broccoli (for acceptability 6.2 and 7.1 versus 5.1; P