The influence of thermal treatment (frying of plantain) on the micronutrients ascorbic acid, potassium and carotenoids is evaluated. Cylinders (diameter 30 mm, thickness 10 mm) of plantain (Musa AAB 'barraganete') were fried at four thermal treatments (120-180 degrees C and from 24 to 4 min) to obtain products with approximately the same water content (approximately 0.8+/-0.02 kg/kg1) and fat content (approximately 0.15+/-0.06 kg/kg). The thermal study used the cook value and the mean cook value as indicators of the effect of several different treatment temperatures and times on quality. Deep-fat frying had no significant effect on carotenoid contents at any frying conditions, and on potassium content, except at 120 degrees C and 24 min (loss <or= 11%). There was a significant, but not complete, loss (<or=45%) of ascorbic acid. The process with the greatest effect was low temperature and long time (120 degrees C/24 min), as observed for potassium and ascorbic acid. These results are in agreement with other studies that demonstrated short thermal treatments at high temperatures protect food nutritional quality, as shown by the cook value and the mean cook value. In our work, deep-fat frying of plantain preserved most of the micronutrient contents that were evaluated.