Spinach stored under fluorescent lights boost spinach’s nutritional value
By admin on 2014-12-29

Supermarket fluorescent lights boost spinach’s nutritional value, scientists have found.

But leaves kept in darkness can lose nutrients.

The research, revealed in the American Chemical Society’s journal, could lead to better ways of keeping vegetables.

Scientists Gene Lester, Donald J. Makus, and D. Mark Hodges said that supermarkets often display fresh spinach in clear plastic containers at around 39f in showcases that may be exposed to fluorescent light 24 hours a day.

And they wondered how this continuous light exposure might affect the nutritional value of spinach - the secret to the strength of cartoon classic Popeye the sailor.

The scientists exposed fresh leaves to continuous light or darkness during simulated retail storage conditions for three to nine days.

Spinach stored in the light for three days had much higher levels of vitamins C, K and E, plus folate, a B vitamin.

After nine days, levels of folate increased between 84 and 100 per cent and the level of Vitamin K also rose by up to 100 per cent.

Leaves also had higher levels of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, plant pigments.

But leaves kept in continuous darkness tended to have declining or unchanged levels of nutrients, the study found.