Why does slightly cooked (wilted) spinach give me dry mouth but not raw or fully cooked? I used raw spinach in salads.  I use it well cooked in soups, pies, and sauteed by itself.  For some recipes (mostly in omelettes)  I like it flash-fried, just to the point it starts wilting.   And in those recipes, it leaves me with a dry mouth for an hour after I eat it.  Any clues?
If it is of any relevance, I only buy fresh pre-washed baby spinach so I cannot compare to other kinds, or to frozen, or to spinach I wash myself.
Oxalates most likely.
Cooking doesn't change the oxalates but I reckon how it is chewed, more vrs less, might be the reason.
Wilted seems the chewiest to me.
&quot;Spinach contains a high amount of oxalic acids which contain small crystals that do not dissolve in water. These oxalate crystals are released from spinach as you chew, coating the teeth, resulting in that chalky or gritty feeling&quot;