EFFECT OF PROCESSING ON VITAMINS 9 



Summary on Vitamin B (B^ 



Generally speaking, vitamin B cannot be considered immune from at least 

 partial destruction by drying, cooking and canning certain foods. In the 

 words of the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection (12). 

 "The antineuritic fraction of B is appreciably destroyed, but less so in fruits 

 than in vegetables for the fruit acids tend to stabilize the vitamin and also 

 make it possible to sterilize the fruit at a lower temperature and for a shorter 

 period than for non-acid vegetables." 



VITAMIN G (B 2 ) 



Until of late, very few studies have been made on the occurrence or stability 

 of vitamin G in fruits and vegetables. However, with the clearer differentiation 

 of G from the other factors of the vitamin B complex, renewed interest has 

 sprung up. 



Since Goldberger's classic work on the pellagra-preventive factor in foods, 

 it has been fairly well established that vitamin G is widely distributed in the 

 plant and animal kingdoms. Sebrell (187) has prepared a table showing the 

 pellagra-preventive values of various foods. Munsell (155) has admirably 

 summed up the relation of G to the other B-complex factors. 



Hunt, Record, Wilder, and Bethke (95) found that the G content of hay 

 decreased with maturity, that rain may remove as much as 50 percent of this 

 vitamin (94), and that a high G content is associated with a rich green color. 



Day and Darby (36) showed that pears contained five times as much G as 

 apples, but avocados were richest of all the fruits examined. Douglass, 

 Halloway, Williams, and Garrison (39) reported the B value of Bosc pears at 

 0.22 unit per gram. Roehm (176) found that fresh grapefruit pulp was a fair 

 source of G. Morgan (146) ascertained that prunes lost no G during drying. 

 The G content of dried prunes was established at approximately 1.2 units per 

 gram by Witt and Poe (223). Hanning (80) found that canned, strained 

 tomatoes contained 0.25 unit, beets 0.12, string beans 0.3, spinach and peas 

 0.4. Pineapple juice contained nearly 0.1 unit per gram. Poe and Gambill 

 (167) determined the average G content of several tomato juices as 0.21 unit 

 per gram. Fellers and Isham (57) found only traces of G in fresh or canned 

 cranberries. Munsell and Kennedy (156) demonstrated from 0.24 to 1.18 

 units of G per gram of lettuce. Broccoli is also a good source of G according 

 to Munsell and Kifer (157) and Roehm (176). However, cooking destroyed 

 a part of the G content of this vegetable. On the other hand, Hoff (90) stated 

 that the G in cooked or canned spinach was not seriously injured. Wheeler 

 (220, 221), Sebrell, Wheeler, and Hunt (188), and Goldberger and Wheeler 

 (72) all reported the presence of vitamin G in various canned foods such as 

 chicken, haddock, salmon, peas, spinach, and turnip greens. Day (35) found 

 that turnip tops contained four to six times as much G as the roots. Lo (121) 

 showed that the cucumber was a good source of G. Krizenecky and Nevalonnyj 

 (116) reported the presence of this vitamin in fermented vinegar. 



The British Medical Research Council (137) states, "Its heat stability 

 (vitamin B 2 ) is, however, only relative, depending largely on the reaction at 



