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FRIED CHICKEN AN EXCELLENT SOURCE OF VITAMIN B6
AUBURN, Ala.__--Most folks agree that fried chicken tastes great, but
can we regard it as healthful and can it be a valuable tool for nutrition
research?
Yes, said Jean Olds, a nutrition researcher with the Alabama Agricultural
Experiment Station at Auburn University who has been developing a chemical
analysis method to detect minuscule amounts of vitamin B6 in foods.
She used fried chicken to test the analysis method and subsequently
discovered that this fast-food favorite is an excellent source of vitamin
B6.
"Vitamin B6 is one of the B complex vitamins and has been considered
low or limited in the diets of some Americans," explained Olds.
The vitamin assists the body with protein metabolism and is commonly
found in high protein foods such as meat.
Though vitamin B6 deficiencies are rare in the United States, Olds said
nutritionists have been concerned that all Americans may not receive
proper levels of the vitamin through their diets.
Before dietary recommendations for vitamin B6 can be evaluated, nutritionists
need to know which foods are good sources of the vitamin. However, very
few foods have been analyzed for B6 content because, until recently,
the analysis method was complicated and time consuming.
Olds has developed a high performance liquid chromatography analysis
method which can effectively analyze a food item in a matter of minutes
instead of a matter of hours or days. When it came time to test the
system's proficiency on a food item, Olds chose fried chicken. "We
know chicken is a good source of vitamin B6. We thought fried chicken
would be a good test of the system because it provides all the problems
associated with analysis of a food item," she said.
She explained that the breading, egg, and milk used to batter chicken
and the deep-fat frying method of cooking the chicken make it a complex
food to evaluate. In addition, many researchers have thought that vitamin
B6 is unstable at high temperatures, another factor which would prove
the analysis system's ability to detect small amounts of the vitamin.
"We figured, if we could analyze fried chicken for vitamin B6,
less complex foods would be easy to evaluate," Olds reasoned.
Not only did the system effectively evaluate B6 content, it revealed
surprising new insights into the nutritional value of fried chicken.
Analysis showed that very little vitamin B6 was lost during the frying
process, possibly because the breading and the rapid cooking method
help seal juices in the chicken and preserve the vitamin content.
"We now believe that B6 is bound to the protein in the food unless
it is drastically processed," said Olds. Further analysis using
Olds' technique will help establish which cooking methods result in
excessive vitamin loss.
Olds pointed out that fried chicken's high vitamin B6 content is not
a license for overindulging. However, it might be a good excuse for
an occasional splurge.
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By:
Katie Smith
2/13/90
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