I Sughi (= The Sauces)
The Sauces and Good Health
The first thing to say is something which leaps to everyone’s attention and, above all, to everyone’s palate: not all sauces are the same! The most popular ones, indeed 90% of the more commonly found sauces, are industrially manufactured with (at least!) two separate phases of transformation. The first phase, “preparation” (washing, sterilisation, stabilisation), produces a "semi-processed" product from the harvested vegetables. Usually, this is a very invasive procedure.
The semi-processed product can then be used to make meat and vegetable sauces (the second phase) avoiding the difficult preparation required for fresh produce.
Very few sauces are produced using freshly harvested vegetables the way La Vialla does.
At the Fattoria the vegetables ripen naturally, are hand-picked ad the right moment and – most importantly – grown using certified organic and biodynamic farming methods.
In addition to all this, when using fresh fruit and vegetables, it is important to preserve their precious qualities during the subsequent phases as well, that is to say during cleaning, cooking and bottling.
A tasty, fresh and fragrant sauce is not only delicious to eat, it is also a concentrate of beneficial substances that are good for your health.
The table illustrates the results of a study regarding the high antioxidant properties (1) of the Fattoria's products, compared with those of other products available on the market. The study was carried out in collaboration with the University of Ancona.
Amongst the tomato sauces analysed, the content of antioxidant substances in La Vialla's sauces was, on average, 32% higher.
Moreover, at the Fattoria, the sauces are prepared using exclusively extra virgin olive oil - the "king" of antioxidants - respecting Tuscan tradition and helping to create a balanced and healthy diet.
(1) The "antioxidant" effect (exerted by a combination of substances, including polyphenols, vitamins and lycopene) has the capacity, on one hand, to delay the decomposition of the tomato itself, and on the other, to have a beneficial action against free radicals in the human body.
A Note about Lycopene=
“ …in tomato sauce (also the more traditional, slowly cooked type) there is a very powerful and beneficial substance, lycopene, which can protect us against cancer.” These are the words of the famous Italian oncologist, Professor Umberto Veronesi, who sadly died in november 2016. Lycopene is found in raw tomatoes, but when the tomatoes are cooked, the quality increases fivefold; in contrast with other antioxidant components in vegetables which, with cooking, are altered or reduced in quantity.
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Here are some studies and publications that we feel are worth looking into: |
