The nutritional effects of microwave heating

Microwave energy is mainly used for the reheating of cooked foods after chilled or frozen storage and the domestic prime cooking of a relatively small range of items. Comparison of the time-temperature history in foods heated conventionally and by microwave indicates that microwave heated products should be nutritionally comparable to or better than their conventional counterparts, but the results of studies are sometimes conflicting. This can be attributed to variability in the performance of microwave ovens, difficulties involved in temperature measurement, which make experimental conditions difficult to define, and to the occurrence of “focalised” regions of high temperature in microwaved products.