Herb is root of healthy chips
A SPRIG of rosemary with your chips could help to stave off cancer and obesity, it has been suggested.
Adding the herb – a favourite of the Mediterranean diet – prevents cooking oil from breaking down into dangerous compounds during frying.
A Scottish study found frying potatoes with rosemary meant more beneficial antioxidants, which can prevent cell damage.
Potatoes from an Aberdeen supermarket were put in a deep fryer with three oils – olive, sunflower and rapeseed – and a selection of dried kitchen herbs.
Scientists found that rosemary had almost twice the level of protective qualities as oregano, followed by ginger, turmeric and black pepper.
Rosemary has also previously been shown to boost long-term memory.
Helen Barrett, a senior specialist dietitian with the NHS, said: ‘A lot of the traditional uses of herbs are proving through science to be quite correct.
‘[Adding] antioxidants, like herbs, to oil will help prevent degradation of the oil when it is heated to high temperatures. Antioxidants are almost like bodyguards for the substance. This is why eating or drinking antioxidants will help prevent damage from oxidation in the body.
‘Inside us, the oxygen radicals can initiate the process of breaking down normal cellular structures, can change how a chemical or a substance functions and can damage normal DNA, ie can lead to cancer. Having a diet rich in antioxidants helps prevent this damage from occurring.
‘Obesity is also linked to oxidative stress. Antioxidants have a role in preventing this from happening, but so does weight loss.’
The study – in the International Journal of Food Science and Technology – was led by PhD researcher Lucıa Redondo-Cuevas, of Aberdeen University’s Rowett Institute.
She said the results had ‘important food processing applications for domestic settings as direct rosemary addition to a vegetable oil can inhibit lipid oxidation during frying’.
She added: ‘Lipid oxidation has been identified as the major deterioration process of vegetable oils. Undesirable effects are even more profound when food processing involves high temperatures in the presence of oxygen.’
Chris Stewart, head tutor at the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine, said: ‘This sounds very interesting – that something as simple as adding rosemary could reduce something a lot of people are worried about. The herb has quite a few uses... it has medicinal and health qualities.’