Study title and authors:
Estimation of carotenoid accessibility from carrots determined by an in vitro digestion method
E Hedrén1, V Diaz2 and U Svanberg1 
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1Department of Food Science, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden
2Instituto de Investigación Tecnológica, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, EcuadorThis study can be accessed at: http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v56/n5/full/1601329a.html#bib21
The object of the study was to assess the impact of heat treatment, particle size and presence of fat on the accessibility (available for absorption
) of carotene in carrots.The results were:
(a) Three percent of the total carotene content was released from raw carrots in pieces.
(b) When homogenized (pulped) 21% was released.
(c) Cooking the pulp increased the accessibility to 27%.
(d) Addition of fat to the cooked pulp further increased the released amount to 39%.
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Recipe of the day
Simple Lamb Casserole
Ingredients:
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| Food Mall: Lamb |
2 medium onions, finely chopped
3 carrots, roughly chopped into chunks2 large parsnips, roughly chopped into chunks
500g lamb chopped into rough chunks about 1 inch cubed
500 ml lamb stock
250ml red wine
4 rosemary spears, whole
4 rosemary spears, stems removed and leaves finely chopped
Directions:
1.Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a pan and gently fry the onion over a medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently to make sure they don’t burn.
2.Turn up the heat to high, add the meat to the pan and quickly brown the meat.
3.Once the meat is browned, add the carrots and parsnips and continue to fry for a couple of minutes until the vegetables are starting to change colour.
4.If you weren’t already doing all the frying in a casserole dish, transfer everything into a suitable dish, add the stock, wine and rosemary to the pot and mix together thoroughly.
5.Put a lid on the casserole dish and cook in the oven on 150C for 2 hours. If you’re doing this with the hearts it doesn’t hurt to give it the extra few hours with the pot properly sealed to hold the liquid in, but you will then need to reduce the liquid more at the end of cooking time because none of it will have gently evaporated from the pot while cooking.
6.Once ready, discard the whole rosemary spears. If, when cooked, the casserole liquid is thinner than you would like, use a ladle to spoon out as much of the liquid into a large-based saucepan or frying pan and reduce by boiling rapidly over a high heat. If you have prepared the casserole in a pot that can also go on the stove top then boil the whole casserole rapidly, but ensure you stir throughout the process to stop the meat and vegetables on the bottom getting burned.
| Simple Lamb Casserole |
