freezing

[shadymonk]

I understand that heating food destroys enzymes, etc, but what about freezing? Does freezing damage enzymes?

[shadymonk]

Researching my own question, I found an article that states, "Enzymes in fruits and vegetables are slowed down, but not destroyed during freezing. If not inactivated, these enzymes can cause color and flavor changes as well as loss of nutrients." Interestingly, when discussing the freezing of food, the concern becomes the fact that the enzymes are still at work, ripening/spoiling the food. Hence, it is recommended that foods be cooked first or "blanched" (boiled before freezing) to kill the enzymes so food can be frozen for longer periods of time. So, it would seem that freezing food is pretty much not a part of the raw approach, except when freezing fruits to acts as cooling agents in blended concoctions. In other words, eating "raw", for the most part, means eating freshly harvested foods. Cheers.
-Chris