> Each food has a critical temperature.  Above this temperature, the food is
> no longer seen by the body as "friendly."  For example, the critical
> temperature for milk is 191 deg. F., but with current processing
> procedures, milk is "flash-sterilized" at 282 deg. F.  That is over 100
> degrees above the critical temperature where the destruction of nutrients
> begins.

The degree of denaturation of course depends on processing time. Milk
that is boiled for 1 hour at 212 F (assumin it's possible) is probably more
denaturated than sterilized milk.

Of course, some compounds that don't appear at 212 F will appear at 282 F,
but if the process is very short, the quantity of endproducts stays relatively
low.

>It is known, that enzymes are destroyed above 104F, not 190F.

Where did you get that figure from?

>Some months ago I accidentally overheated avocados in my riping box and
>applied app. 120F to them. After the meal I noticed, that I was not
>satisfied, which never happens to me with raw avocados. Later I watched
>that digestion of these slightly heated avocados was bad whereas raw
>avos always digest fine.

Note that the chart from the article contains no information about avocados.
It reminds me a few facts about hot water treated mangos:

1) They are heated no more than about 122 F for 10 minutes or 130 F for 5
minutes (also depends on size), because it would cause a too important
denaturation. However, it is clearly visible that mangos treated that
way are already denatured.

2) The core temperature has to reach at least 117 F to kill insect larvae. So, a
temperature of 117 F is already able to kill something in a few minutes. Which
doesn't of course implies that the body would react as poisoning when ingesting
these foods.

JL