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Nutrients are biochemicals essential to the human body for growth and survival. They are included in different foods in various proportions and quantities, and are released after food metabolism. The factors that produce physicochemical changes on nutrients are light, temperature and oxygen. Unwanted changes in visual (color) and olfactory (smell) effects, which are easy to spot, are not accepted by consumers and are used as indicators of inferior or unsafe products. The combined effects of the loss of nutrients and bioactive components, with the degradation of quality (color and flavor), negatively affect the overall quality of food and consumer acceptance, leading to lower product sales, lower brand confidence and an economic loss in the food industry. Heat processing of food can affect the bioavailability of minerals in their composition by changing their solubility and destroying food constituents that increase or decrease availability. Cooking and baking can destroy some of the valuable nutrients in food: polyunsaturated fatty acids, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]