Do vegetables and fruit lose their vitamins and minerals as soon as you cut them open?

Question

My health aid cut up my watermelon and cantalope and put in the refrigerator.

She does the same thing with my salad, trying to make everything easier for me.

I watched this news show one time, in the past, where a doctor said all the vitamins are lost if you don't eat it the salad or fruit within 2 hours.

So I was wondering if there is any truth to that.

Answer 1

It is not true.

New research shows that fresh-cut fruit may not lose much of its nutrients when stored in the refrigerator for a few days.

Scientists sharpened their knives and put mangoes, pineapples, kiwi, strawberries, watermelon, and cantaloupe on their shopping list.

They wanted to see if fresh-cut fruit lost antioxidants -- including vitamin C, carotenoids, and phenols -- when stowed in a refrigerator at 41 degrees Fahrenheit in a clear, plastic container that wasn’t airtight.

The key finding: “In general, fresh-cut fruits visually spoil before any significant nutrient loss occurs,” write the researchers. They included Maria Gil of Spain’s Research Group on Quality, Safety, and Bioactivity of Plant Foods.

The study appears in the May 12 early on line edition of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.