| NUTRIENT |
STABILITY CHARACTERISTICS |
| Vitamin A and provitamin A |
Reasonably stable during processing
Losses occur when dehydrated foods
are exposed to light and air |
| Vitamin D |
Relatively stable but sensitive to
exposure to air and light |
| Vitamin E |
Relatively stable but foods cooked
in oil can have large losses |
| Vitamin K |
Relatively stable but sensitive to
light |
| Vitamin B-1 (thiamin) |
Large losses under neutral and alkaline
conditions where baking powder is used (e.g. cakes). Dissolves in
cooking water. There is reasonable retention in cooked meat |
| Vitamin 8-2 (riboflavin) |
Very sensitive to light. Relatively
stable to most home cooking methods. Losses can occur in drippings
from meat |
| Niacin |
Stable to most processing. Dissolves
in cooking water |
| Vitamin B-6 |
Moderate retention during most processing.
In milk it is sensitive to light |
| Vitamin B-12 |
Moderate retention, but losses occur
when heated under mild acid and alkaline conditions |
| Folacin |
Relatively stable but large losses
can occur on cooking. Presence of copper aids destruction |
| Pantothenic acid |
Relatively stable during home cooking
but losses occur in meat drippings and cooking water |
| Biotin |
Good retention during most home processing |
| Vitamin C |
Relatively unstable and losses occur
from exposure to air, light, heat and copper. Dissolves in cooking
water |
| Elements |
Stable to most processing but losses
can occur by dissolving in cooking water |
