Canned food retains its nutritional value for a remarkably long time if stored properly (cool, anoxic, low light). Vitamin C and some B vitamins degrade the most rapidly.
"Dudek and Elkins (1983) analyzed canned (presumably in glass) samples of plum tomatoes, mixed vegetables, brandied peaches, catsup and red peppers salvaged from [the steamboat Bertrand] that had sunk in 1865. Ascorbic acid levels were essentially zero, but significant quantities of vitamin A remained in the tomatoes (160 IU/100 g) and red peppers (4252 IU/lOO g). These authors found significant quantities of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and vitamin A in canned pickle relish salvaged from an 1862 shipwreck. Thornburg (1983) reported that levels of vitamins A and C, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin in canned cream style corn, pork and beans, fruit cocktail and green peas stored for 40 years in a cool basement in hot dip tinplate cans compared favorably with those in the currently marketed products."
WILLIAM M. BREENE, HEALTHFULNESS AND NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OF FRESH VERSUS PROCESSED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES: A REVIEW, Foodservice Research International, 10.1111/j.1745-4506.1994.tb00073.x, 8, 1, (1-45), (2006).
Photos below are some of the canned goods recovered from the Bertrand.
"Dudek and Elkins (1983) analyzed canned (presumably in glass) samples of plum tomatoes, mixed vegetables, brandied peaches, catsup and red peppers salvaged from [the steamboat Bertrand] that had sunk in 1865. Ascorbic acid levels were essentially zero, but significant quantities of vitamin A remained in the tomatoes (160 IU/100 g) and red peppers (4252 IU/lOO g). These authors found significant quantities of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and vitamin A in canned pickle relish salvaged from an 1862 shipwreck. Thornburg (1983) reported that levels of vitamins A and C, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin in canned cream style corn, pork and beans, fruit cocktail and green peas stored for 40 years in a cool basement in hot dip tinplate cans compared favorably with those in the currently marketed products."
WILLIAM M. BREENE, HEALTHFULNESS AND NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OF FRESH VERSUS PROCESSED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES: A REVIEW, Foodservice Research International, 10.1111/j.1745-4506.1994.tb00073.x, 8, 1, (1-45), (2006).
Photos below are some of the canned goods recovered from the Bertrand.