I learned in botany class that most of the vitamins are in the skin, so I've been scrubbing them, but peeling seems easier. Does anyone have a good suggetionsuggestion for a veggie scrubber - better than blue scotch-brite sponges?
Q&A; Peels and Vitamins
By C. CLAIBORNE RAY, NY Times
Published: March 11, 2003
Q. I have read serious assertions that all the nutrition of carrots is in the peel, and so you shouldn't peel them. Is this true? What about other vegetables?
A. Plenty of nutritional value is left in a peeled carrot, said Dr. Stephen Reiners, associate professor of horticulture at Cornell's New York State Agriculture Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y., who works with root vegetables.
The deep orange color of a carrot indicates the presence of beta carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, he said, ''and when you peel the carrot, it is just as orange when you take off the outer layer.''
As for other similar vegetables, he said, ''if it is the same color throughout, you are getting the same nutrition with a peeled vegetable.''
The big exception is the potato, where there is a striking difference between peel and flesh. ''There is a lot of nutrition in the skin,'' Dr. Reiners said, ''but this is not to say the rest of the potato is without nutritional value.'' C. CLAIBORNE RAY
Q. I have read serious assertions that all the nutrition of carrots is in the peel, and so you shouldn't peel them. Is this true? What about other vegetables?
A. Plenty of nutritional value is left in a peeled carrot, said Dr. Stephen Reiners, associate professor of horticulture at Cornell's New York State Agriculture Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y., who works with root vegetables.
The deep orange color of a carrot indicates the presence of beta carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, he said, ''and when you peel the carrot, it is just as orange when you take off the outer layer.''
As for other similar vegetables, he said, ''if it is the same color throughout, you are getting the same nutrition with a peeled vegetable.''
The big exception is the potato, where there is a striking difference between peel and flesh. ''There is a lot of nutrition in the skin,'' Dr. Reiners said, ''but this is not to say the rest of the potato is without nutritional value.''
