[Cooking in water and nitrate content of some vegetables. Simultaneous changes in other nutritive components]

The author relates 2 limited studies concerning carrots and spinachs. For carrots, 9 samples each divided in 4 groups showed a lower nitrates content, from a mean value of 229 mg/kg to 29 mg/kg. The cooking water contained only 40 p. 100 of the nitrates of the fresh vegetable. For spinachs, vitamin C and nitrates have approximatively the same sensibility to boiling, while magnesium diminishes slower, and iron seems very resistant to water extraction. The findings need complementary studies but suggest that as it was frequently proposed, boiling is a good way to eliminate contaminants, rather less aggressive against nutritional factors than one could dread.