Supermarket Display May Make Spinach Even Healthier

10 Mar, 2010 in Health and Pharmacy News by admin

Supermarket Display May Make Spinach Even Healthier

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MONDAY, March 8 (HealthDay News) — Fluorescent lighting in grocery stores may increase the nutritional value of fresh spinach, a recent study suggests.

Many food stores display fresh spinach in cloudless plastic containers, kept at around 39 degrees Fahrenheit in coolers exposed to fluorescent light 24 hours a day. In the study, researchers exposed fresh spinach leaves to continuous fluorescent light or darkness for three to nine days.

After just three days, the spinach stored under the lights had significantly higher levels of vitamins C, K, E as well as folate, as well as higher levels of lutein as well as zeaxanthin, which are healthful plant pigments. After nine days of continuous exposure to the lights, levels of folate increased 84 to 100 percent, as well as levels of vitamin K increased 50 to 100 percent, depending on the spinach variety.

Spinach stored in continuous darkness had declining or unchanged levels of nutrients, the study found.

The finding could lead to improved methods of preserving as well as boosting the nutritional value of spinach as well as other fresh vegetables, the researchers stated in a news release from the American Artificial Society.

The study findings were published in the Journal of Agricultural as well as Food Chemistry.

– Robert Preidt

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