Effect of processing on composition changes of selected spices

The present investigation was conducted to study the true retentions of α-tocopherol, tocotrienols and β-carotene in crown daisy, unripe hot pepper, onion, garlic, and red pepper as affected by various domestic cooking methods, those were, boiling, baking, stir-frying, deep-frying, steaming, roasting, and microwaving. Fatty acid compositions were determined by GC, and HPLC were used for quantification of α-tocopherol, tocotrienols, and β-carotene. True retentions of α-tocopherol in cooked foods were as follows: boiling (77.74–242.73%), baking (85.99–212.39%), stir-frying (83.12–957.08%), deep-frying (162.48–4214.53%), steaming (45.97–179.57%), roasting (49.65–253.69%), and microwaving (44.67–230.13%). Similarly for true retention of β-carotene were: boiling (65.69–313.75%), baking (71.46–330.16%), stir-frying (89.62–362.46%), deep-frying (178.22–529.16%), steaming (50.39–240.92%), roasting (73.54–361.47%), and microwaving (78.60–339.87%).