Degradation kinetics of folic acid in cowpea (Vigna catjang L.) during cooking.

摘要

Kinetics of folic acid degradation in cowpeas (Vigna catjang) as well as in pure folic acid solutions at initial concn. present in cowpeas were investigated over a temp. range of 50-120degC. Under isothermal conditions, folic acid degradation followed 1st order reaction kinetics, where the rate constant increased with an increase in temp. The temp. dependence of degradation was adequately modelled by the Arrhenius equation. The degradation was also evaluated in normal open pan cooking, pressure-cooking and a newly developed and patented fuel-efficient Eco Cooker (non-isothermal heating process). A mathematical model was developed using the isothermal kinetic parameters obtained to predict the losses of folic acid from the time-temp. data of the non-isothermal heat processing method. Results indicate that all the cooking methods (isothermal and non-isothermal) produce a similar magnitude of folic acid degradation.