Domestic cooking practices influence the carotenoid and tocopherol content in colored cauliflower

•Thermal processing induced changes in carotenoids and pVACs release.•‘Verde di Macerata’ and ‘Cheddar’ are good source of carotenoids and tocopherols.•Cooking induced the γ-tocopherol’ availability in ‘Cheddar’, ‘Forata’ and ‘Graffiti’•Boiled colored cauliflowers for 10 min have lowers retention of tocopherols.•Cooking procedures kept the visual quality of colored cauliflowers.