On Food and Cooking

other protective molecules. No single molecule can protect against all kinds of damage. Unusually high concentrat ...

cancer; some prevent the body from turning mildly toxic chemicals into more powerful toxins that ...

Estimating Healthfulness by Eye There’s a useful guideline for estimating the relative healthfulness of ...

blueberries, and strawberries; among vegetables, garlic, red and yellow onions, asparagus, green bean ...

seaweed agar and carrageenan, inulin in onions, artichokes, and sunchokes). Particular foods offer particular kinds ...

too, probably bind certain chemicals and prevent their absorption. Soluble fiber has been shown to lower ...

breeding have reduced their toxin contents to the point that they’re not generally hazardous, unusual prepar ...

plant’s tissue is damaged by chewing, the cyanogens are mixed with the plant enzyme that breaks ...

hazard to humans. Until we know, it’s best to eat mushrooms in moderation. Protease Inhibitors and Lect ...

an additive in 1960 (root beer is now made with safe sarsaparilla or artificial flavorings). Myris ...

in susceptible people (p. 490). Oxalates Oxalates are various salts of oxalic acid, a waste product of pl ...

information about the safety of eating ferns. It’s prudent to eat fiddleheads in moderation, and to avoid bracken f ...

that come from contaminating molds (patulin in apple juice, from a Penicillium mold growing on damaged ...

significant source. They have caused outbreaks of nearly every major food pathogen known (see box below). ...

This selected list demonstrates that raw produce is capable of causing a wide range of food-borne illn ...

Vibrio cholerae Fruits and vegetables contaminated by water Yersinia Sprouts contaminated by water Cyclospora (prot ...

The Composition and Qualities of Fruits and Vegetables What makes a vegetable tender or tough? Why do leafy gre ...

water and other small molecules. Immediately inside the membrane is a fluid called the cytoplasm, which is ...

filled with amyloplasts, which hold many granules of the long sugar chains called starch. Cross-section ...

coats of beans and peas are all mainly the cell-wall material of strengthening cells. Broadly speaking, the t ...