Expert warns against preserving fruits in refrigerator

In her inaugural lecture at the Leads City University, Ibadan, on Wednesday, Ladokun said that it is healthy to eat fresh fruits instead of those preserved in the refrigerator.

The lecture is entitled: "Nutritional Biochemistry: Sequential Professedly Unsequential.’"

According to her, a study done on some varieties of tropical plants shows essential nutritional components in eating fresh fruits and foods.

"Enzymatic browning affects nutritional properties such as the flavour and texture of foods and fruits during storage or processing and is, therefore, detrimental to food quality.

"To prevent browning and loss of nutritional quality, it is recommended not to store fruits in a refrigerator for too long before consumption," she said.

The expert said that some enzymatic browning has continued to be a significant problem in fruits and vegetables resulting in their discoloration.

Ladokun said that there has been a paradigm shift in many countries, including US from the use of conventional medicine to naturally-occurring phytochemicals.

She said that care should be taken not to compromise on the quality to reduce the cost of production of livestock.

"The present practice of using growth hormones is not acceptable as most of these hormones have been recorded to be carcinogenic.

“These products end up on our tables and the carcinogens maybe passed to humans via the food chain," she said.

Ladokun urged researchers working in the field of natural products to dig deeper and engage in cutting-edge research that could attract international grants to carry out globally-relevant research.