KnowHOW team explains: Humans began cooking food primarily to get rid of its toxic components, especially the micro-organisms. It all began when the early humans wanted to sterilise raw meat to break down substances like enzyme inhibitors ? which do not allow digestive enzymes to work ? making food easy to digest and tasteful.

However, it?s pretty certain that the earliest chefs who happened to roast pieces of meat were least aware of its hygienic superiority, and were rather attracted by richer flavours and improved texture of dishes, which were less likely to become contaminated. He or she must have also noticed that cooking softens up tough meats or starchy foods like rice or wheat.

No other animals or creatures go for any systemic process comparable to cooking. Some creatures ? such as snakes, dragonfly larvae and pitcher plants ? digest or rot their prey before assimilating them. Other animals like rabbits recycle their manure, and cows regurgitate their chewed food.

Cooking may enhance digestibility of foods, but it certainly decreases their nutritional value to some extent. For instance, heat can reduce the vitamin content, and charring destroys other nutrients, creating even cancer-causing substances. The trick lies in judicious cooking.

The question was sent by Deepti Sengupta from Purulia