Pickles =/= Vegetables?

[.Shane.]

So, a pickle is essentially a cucumber set in vinegar and spices for some period of time.

Nutrionally speaking, is it still considered a vegetable? If I eat a nice sized dill pickle w/ my sandwich, does the pickle count as a serving of vegetables? Or does the process of "pickling" damage the thing enough as to remove the nutrional value?

Inquiring minds want to know!

P.S. So far as I know, Toby Keith does not dislike pickles.

 

[Sophie 378]

Nutritionally, I doubt it. Many of the vitamins will have been degraded by the processing - acid, heat, etc. It will probably still have some fibre, though. Do you mean a gherkin? Afaik "pickle" is a process rather than an actual thing - pickled cucumber, ginger pickle, etc.

[edit]Removed errant L from cucumber.[/edit]

 

[skadistic]

For Americans pickle means a pickled cucumber. But you can pickle damn near anything from peppers and cucumbers to eggs and fish.

I'd say yes it counts as a vegitable.

 

[Taliesin]

Apparently they have small amounts of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, and iron, and larger amounts of copper, Vitamin K, and fibre. Unfortunately, you'd max out your recommended daily sodium intake long before you got anywhere near a useful amount of any of these nutrients, except perhaps copper and K.

 

[Urederra]

Well, gherkins are veggies... The main issue here is how the pickling proccess damages the nutritional properties of the pickled food. BTW, do you heat when you plickle stuff or just cover with vinegar and spices? I thought it was the latter.

Proteins are denaturalized because of the low pH, that is for sure, but gherkins don't have a lot of protein to begin with. And some vitamines are lost, in part because of the pH, in part because of good ol' aging. Which ones are lost and how much? that I don't know. My guess is that some of the lipophilic ones might be conserved.

Other than that, fiber (high content) and sugars and lipids (lower content) would be preserved. After all something has to be preserved, It is a preserving method.

 

[Rambuchan]

Can someone please tell us what mass freezing, with limited sunlight, for months, after being transported half way round the world, does to fruit and vegetable?

 

[Urederra]

I don't think they mass freeze fruits, and most vegetables. they usually preserve them in a modified atmosphere with low O2 levels and high CO2 levels (Ohh... the CO2 satan again....)

From wiki, the oracle of our era

Modified atmosphere is a way to preserve food operating on the atmosphere around it. Salad crops which are notoriously difficult to preserve are now being packaged in sealed bags with an atmosphere modified to reduce the oxygen concentration and increase the carbon dioxide concentration. There is concern that although salad vegetables retain their appearance and texture in such conditions, this method of preservation may not retain nutrients, especially vitamins.

[size=-2]BTW, Is not too late for you to be in front of the computer, Rambuchan? [/size]

And the pickling process can be done with or without heating, wiki says.

 

[Rambuchan]

I don't think they mass freeze fruits, and most vegetables. they usually preserve them in a modified atmosphere with low O2 levels and high CO2 levels (Ohh... the CO2 satan again....)

From wiki, the oracle of our era



[size=-2]BTW, Is not too late for you to be in front of the computer, Rambuchan? [/size]

And the pickling process can be done with or without heating, wiki says.

Ah that's what I'm talking about. Thanks.

Nice to see you fixed your link, nanny

 

[Raisin Bran]

So, a pickle is essentially a cucumber set in vinegar and spices for some period of time.

Nutrionally speaking, is it still considered a vegetable? If I eat a nice sized dill pickle w/ my sandwich, does the pickle count as a serving of vegetables? Or does the process of "pickling" damage the thing enough as to remove the nutrional value?

Inquiring minds want to know!

P.S. So far as I know, Toby Keith does not dislike pickles.

Usually when you put a fruit / vegetable in a liquid you do loose a lot of the nutriments in the liquid.

To really get the full nutriments from your pickles you would need to drink part of the pickeling juice while eating your dill.

 

[Follow Gandhi]

Technically I still consider it a vegetable, although I don't eat it, since it loses so much nutritional value in the whole industrialized process of "pickling," if that's a word.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I think of it as a veggie, but Raisin Bran probably hit the nail on the head, you would need to drink the juice too, since the nutrients are lost into the vinegar.

Incidentally, I have heard (but don't dare try) that pickle juice can wash all the crap out of a dirty fryer, with no scrubbing whatsoever. Is there any foundation to this argument?

 

[Narz]

Technically a pickle is a fruit.

Probably loses a lot of it's nutritional value but then again so does cooking vegetables. You can make your own pickles actually, I haven't done it personally (though I have made my own saurkraut and kim-chee) but it isn't too difficult.

http://www.greenlivingoasis.com/picklemaker.html

 

[StarWorms]

A cucumber is a fruit (because it has seeds in the middle) therefore so is a pickle.

 

[Stile]

Pickles are about worthless. Here is a page for checking nutrition. it has just about everything. There's not much value in cucumbers and squash. I like pickles deep fried. It probably adds value. Below is a pickle and a cup of coffee. Not that different. Put half and half in your coffee and you're probably ahead.


Pickle, nutritional value

Spoiler :

Pickles, cucumber, dill
New Search
Refuse: 0%
Scientific Name:
NDB No: 11937 (Nutrient values and weights are for edible portion)

Nutrient Units 1.00 X 1 large (4" long)
-------
135g
Proximates
Water g 123.75
Energy kcal 24
Energy kj 101
Protein g 0.84
Total lipid (fat) g 0.26
Ash g 4.59
Carbohydrate, by difference g 5.56
Fiber, total dietary g 1.6
Sugars, total g 4.74
Minerals
Calcium, Ca mg 12
Iron, Fe mg 0.72
Magnesium, Mg mg 15
Phosphorus, P mg 28
Potassium, K mg 157
Sodium, Na mg 1731
Zinc, Zn mg 0.19
Copper, Cu mg 0.107
Manganese, Mn mg 0.020
Selenium, Se mcg 0.0
Vitamins
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid mg 2.6
Thiamin mg 0.019
Riboflavin mg 0.039
Niacin mg 0.081
Pantothenic acid mg 0.073
Vitamin B-6 mg 0.018
Folate, total mcg 1
Folic acid mcg 0
Folate, food mcg 1
Folate, DFE mcg_DFE 1
Vitamin B-12 mcg 0.00
Vitamin B-12, added mcg 0.00
Vitamin A, IU IU 247
Vitamin A, RAE mcg_RAE 12
Retinol mcg 0
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) mg 0.12
Vitamin E, added mg 0.00
Vitamin K (phylloquinone) mcg 24.7
Lipids
Fatty acids, total saturated g 0.065
4:0 g 0.000
6:0 g 0.000
8:0 g 0.000
10:0 g 0.000
12:0 g 0.003
14:0 g 0.003
16:0 g 0.055
18:0 g 0.007
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated g 0.004
16:1 undifferentiated g 0.000
18:1 undifferentiated g 0.004
20:1 g 0.000
22:1 undifferentiated g 0.000
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated g 0.104
18:2 undifferentiated g 0.045
18:3 undifferentiated g 0.059
18:4 g 0.000
20:4 undifferentiated g 0.000
20:5 n-3 g 0.000
22:5 n-3 g 0.000
22:6 n-3 g 0.000
Cholesterol mg 0
Phytosterols mg 19
Amino acids
Tryptophan g 0.007
Threonine g 0.023
Isoleucine g 0.026
Leucine g 0.035
Lysine g 0.035
Methionine g 0.007
Cystine g 0.005
Phenylalanine g 0.023
Tyrosine g 0.014
Valine g 0.027
Arginine g 0.054
Histidine g 0.012
Alanine g 0.028
Aspartic acid g 0.050
Glutamic acid g 0.239
Glycine g 0.030
Proline g 0.019
Serine g 0.024
Other
Alcohol, ethyl g 0.0
Caffeine mg 0
Theobromine mg 0
Carotene, beta mcg 105
Carotene, alpha mcg 26
Cryptoxanthin, beta mcg 61
Lycopene mcg 0
Lutein + zeaxanthin mcg 55

Coffee, nutritional value

Spoiler :

Coffee, brewed from grounds, prepared with tap water (1)
New Search
Refuse: 0%
Scientific Name:
NDB No: 14209 (Nutrient values and weights are for edible portion)

Nutrient Units 1.00 X 6 fl oz
-------
178g
Proximates
Water g 176.91
Energy kcal 2
Energy kj 4
Protein g 0.21
Total lipid (fat) g 0.04
Ash g 0.62
Carbohydrate, by difference g 0.00
Fiber, total dietary g 0.0
Sugars, total g 0.00
Sucrose g 0.00
Glucose (dextrose) g 0.00
Fructose g 0.00
Lactose g 0.00
Maltose g 0.00
Galactose g 0.00
Minerals
Calcium, Ca mg 4
Iron, Fe mg 0.02
Magnesium, Mg mg 5
Phosphorus, P mg 5
Potassium, K mg 87
Sodium, Na mg 4
Zinc, Zn mg 0.04
Copper, Cu mg 0.004
Manganese, Mn mg 0.041
Selenium, Se mcg 0.0
Vitamins
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid mg 0.0
Thiamin mg 0.025
Riboflavin mg 0.135
Niacin mg 0.340
Pantothenic acid mg 0.452
Vitamin B-6 mg 0.002
Folate, total mcg 4
Folic acid mcg 0
Folate, food mcg 4
Folate, DFE mcg_DFE 4
Vitamin B-12 mcg 0.00
Vitamin B-12, added mcg 0.00
Vitamin A, IU IU 0
Vitamin A, RAE mcg_RAE 0
Retinol mcg 0
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) mg 0.02
Vitamin E, added mg 0.00
Tocopherol, beta mg 0.00
Tocopherol, gamma mg 0.02
Tocopherol, delta mg 0.00
Vitamin K (phylloquinone) mcg 0.2
Lipids
Fatty acids, total saturated g 0.004
4:0 g 0.000
6:0 g 0.000
8:0 g 0.000
10:0 g 0.000
12:0 g 0.000
14:0 g 0.000
15:0 g 0.000
16:0 g 0.004
17:0 g 0.000
18:0 g 0.000
20:0 g 0.000
22:0 g 0.000
24:0 g 0.000
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated g 0.027
14:1 g 0.000
15:1 g 0.000
16:1 undifferentiated g 0.000
13:0 g 0.000
17:1 g 0.000
18:1 undifferentiated g 0.000
18:1 c g 0.027
18:1 t g 0.000
20:1 g 0.000
22:1 undifferentiated g 0.000
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated g 0.002
18:2 undifferentiated g 0.002
18:3 undifferentiated g 0.000
18:3 n-3 c,c,c g 0.000
18:3 n-6 c,c,c g 0.000
18:4 g 0.000
20:2 n-6 c,c g 0.000
20:3 undifferentiated g 0.000
20:4 undifferentiated g 0.000
20:5 n-3 g 0.000
22:5 n-3 g 0.000
22:6 n-3 g 0.000
Fatty acids, total trans g 0.000
Fatty acids, total trans-monoenoic g 0.000
Cholesterol mg 0
Amino acids
Tryptophan g 0.000
Threonine g 0.002
Isoleucine g 0.004
Leucine g 0.009
Lysine g 0.002
Methionine g 0.000
Cystine g 0.004
Phenylalanine g 0.005
Tyrosine g 0.004
Valine g 0.005
Arginine g 0.002
Histidine g 0.004
Alanine g 0.005
Aspartic acid g 0.009
Glutamic acid g 0.036
Glycine g 0.007
Proline g 0.007
Serine g 0.002
Other
Alcohol, ethyl g 0.0
Caffeine mg 71
Theobromine mg 0
Carotene, beta mcg 0
Carotene, alpha mcg 0
Cryptoxanthin, beta mcg 0
Lycopene mcg 0
Lutein + zeaxanthin mcg 0

 

[classical_hero]

Pickles are not fruit or vegetable, they are weapons or generally found on the roof of MacDonalds.

 

[soul_warrior]

pickle EVERYTHING! ~ pickle 1st

Incidentally, I have heard (but don't dare try) that pickle juice can wash all the crap out of a dirty fryer, with no scrubbing whatsoever. Is there any foundation to this argument?

it works.

simple even...
pickles produce acids. those in turn have a really deep hatred of fat. guess who wins?
but you will have to wait a while.

basically its all chemistry.
acids (or soaps) have a Ph value different from 7 (water or fats) the further away, the faster it will go away.

 

[MobBoss]

A cucumber is a fruit (because it has seeds in the middle) therefore so is a pickle.

Uhm...plenty of veggies also have seeds in the middle. Not sure where that description of fruits came from.

Always thought of them as veggies myself...pickled or unpickled.

Also, my fav: Pickled Okra. MMM. Good.