Folic Acid In Raw Vs. Cooked Cauliflower

Your body requires folic acid for a number of critical metabolic and developmental processes. Folic acid was first found to prevent anemia in children and adults. More recently, folic acid has been linked to a variety of cancers, heart disease and dementia. Folic acid is also important in cell division, especially that of a growing fetus, as folic acid is required for DNA synthesis.

Folate Vs. Folic Acid

Folic acid is a synthetic form of folate that is found in fortified foods and dietary supplements. Food folate is the naturally occurring folate and is found in a wide variety of foods. Your body does not absorb folic acid and folate with the same efficiency, so "dietary folate equivalent" was termed to account for the difference in absorption. One dietary folate equivalent is equal to 1 microgram of folate or 0.6 microgram of folic acid.

Raw Cauliflower

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrient database, raw cauliflower has 57 dietary folate equivalents in 100 g, or 3.5 oz. As an adult, your recommended dietary allowance of folate is 400 dietary folate equivalents per day. Women who are pregnant should consume 600 dietary folate equivalents, and women who are lactating should consume 500 dietary folate equivalents per day. You would need to consume 700 g of raw cauliflower each day to meet the recommended amount of dietary folate.

Cooked Cauliflower

Folate can easily be lost in the cooking process, as it is a water-soluble vitamin. Extension specialists at Ohio State University suggest that you consume raw foods as much as possible, boil or steam foods in small amounts of water and store vegetables in the refrigerator to preserve folate. The USDA nutrient database shows boiled cauliflower to have 44 dietary folate equivalents in 100 g. This means that you lose about 23 percent of the folate in cauliflower when it is boiled.

Other Sources of Folate

Folate is in a wide variety of foods. Foods that have a large amount of dietary folate equivalents are fortified breakfast cereals, beef liver and spinach. Broccoli, avocados and peanuts have moderate dietary folate equivalents. White bread, cantaloupe and bananas have low dietary folate equivalents. Folate fortification began in 1998, making folate deficiencies in the United States rare.