Are Food Preference Tests with Laboratory Rats a Proper Method for Evaluating Nutritional Quality?

Plochberger, Karin; Velmirov, Alberta

doi:10.1080/01448765.1992.9754597

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The present study could therefore not support some of the previous reports (Plochberger and Velmirov, 1992;Mäder et al, 1993;Malheiros et al, 2003) concluding that rats prefer organic feeds to conventional ones.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

“…The result suggests that the laboratory rat has the capability or biological instinct to insist on the diet choice. The short-term choice of food is influenced by neophilia, odour, taste, texture and palatability, whereas the long-term preference of food is determined by its physiological effect (Plochberger and Velmirov, 1992). In another experiment to be reported elsewhere (Lauridsen C., personal communication), the diets used in the present preference test was compared with regard to their long-term physiological effect on rats of similar breeding origin.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, the findings from some data provide conflicting conclusions (Wolfson and Shearer, 1981;Warman and Havard, 1997). The question whether chemical analyses sufficiently define food quality has given rise to a series of studies based on holistic methods, e.g., determination of electrochemical parameters, animal feeding experiments and food preference tests (Plochberger, 1989;Plochberger and Velmirov, 1992;Johnson and Collier, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in these studies, preference tests were carried out with single food items, and according to our knowledge, no studies are available in which complete diets based on similar distribution of food items of different cultivation systems have been compared in preference tests with rats. In addition, only few animal studies (Pfeiffer, 1969;Plochberger and Velmirov, 1992) are available which have taken into consideration the influence of cultivation methods of mothers' diet, when studying the food choice by the progeny, when given access to diets based on organic and conventional products, although Benett and Henderson (1972) found that weanling rats actively seek and preferentially ingest the diets their mothers ate during the nursing period, even if the diet was relatively unpalatable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Investigations concerning essential and/or dangerous contents using laboratory rats are based on these characteristics (Fromentin and Nicolaidis, 1996;Koehnle et al, 2003), which has proven efficient (Benett and Henderson, 1972). Some food preference tests with various bread, common beets, beet roots, carrots, apples, and wheat have shown that rats were able to discriminate between organic and conventional products (Plochberger, 1989;Plochberger and Velmirov, 1992;Mäder et al, 1993). However, in these studies, preference tests were carried out with single food items, and according to our knowledge, no studies are available in which complete diets based on similar distribution of food items of different cultivation systems have been compared in preference tests with rats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Dependent on dietary treatments of mothers, rats showed individual preference of diets containing ingredients produced with different cultivation strategies

Yong

Halekoh²,

Jørgensen³

et al. 2005

J. Anim. Feed Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Three diets were prepared with ingredients cultivated by each of three different farming systems, low input of fertilizer without pesticides (LIminusP), low input of fertilizer and high input of pesticides (LIplusP), and high input of fertilizer and high input of pesticides (HIplusP). A preference test was conducted to investigate whether rats could distinguish among the three iso-energetic and iso-nitrogeneous diets, and the influence of the mothers' diet was accordingly studied with regard to the food choice of the progeny. The experimental diets contained potatoes, carrots, peas, green kales, apples, and rapeseed oil and were formulated to meet the NRC requirements for growing rats. Rats were weaned from dams, which had been fed one of the experimental diets. For five days, rats (n=27) had free access to each of the three diets, and consumption of each of the diets was recorded daily. Thereafter, rats were offered a standard laboratory chow until the test was repeated. The results indicated that the majority of the rats showed individual preference for the diets and behaved similarly on different experimental days (ρ = 0.63 in repetition 1 and ρ = 0.73 in repetition 2) and in the two repetitions (τ = 0.79). There was a significant interaction between diet choice and mothers' diet (P=0.04 in repetition 1 and P=0.05 in repetition 2): when mothers' diet was LIminusP, the LIminusP was among the preferred diets. However, when the mothers were fed LIplusP or HIplusP, the rats showed the lowest consumption of LIminusP.KEY WORDS: preference test, diet choice, organic food, conventional food, rats * Supported by the Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming and Food Systems (DARCOF) through the project: Organic food and health -a multigeneration animal experiment 3

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Dependent on dietary treatments of mothers, rats showed individual preference of diets containing ingredients produced with different cultivation strategies

Yong

Halekoh²,

Jørgensen³

et al. 2005

J. Anim. Feed Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Wheat quality in organic and conventional farming: results of a 21 year field experiment

et al. 2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Consumers have become more aware of healthy and safe food produced with low environmental impact. Organic agriculture is of particular interest in this respect, as manifested by 5.768 million hectares managed pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 in Europe. However, there can be a considerable risk that the avoidance of chemical inputs in organic farming will result in poor food quality. Here the results of a study on the quality of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in a 21 year agrosystem comparison between organic and conventional farming in central Europe are reported. Wheat was grown in a ley (grass/clover) rotation. The 71% lower addition of plant-available nitrogen and the reduced input of other means of production to the organic field plots led to 14% lower wheat yields. However, nutritional value (protein content, amino acid composition and mineral and trace element contents) and baking quality were not affected by the farming systems. Despite exclusion of fungicides from the organic production systems, the quantities of mycotoxins detected in wheat grains were low in all systems and did not differ. In food preference tests, as an integrative method, rats significantly preferred organically over conventionally produced wheat. The findings indicate that high wheat quality in organic farming is achievable by lower inputs, thereby safeguarding natural resources.

show abstract

Feeding trials in organic food quality and health research

Velimirov¹,

Huber

Lauridsen

et al. 2009

J Sci Food Agric

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Feeding experiments comparing organically and conventionally produced food are performed to assess the overall impact on the animals' health as a model for the effects experienced by the human consumers. These experiments are based on systems research and characterized by their focus on production methods, whole food testing and procedures in accordance with the terms of organic farming. A short review of such experiments shows that the majority of these tests revealed effects of the organically produced feed on health parameters such as reproductive performance and immune responses. Systems research is not just about simple cause-effect chains, but rather about the pluralism of interactions in biological networks; therefore, the interpretation of the outcome of whole food experiments is difficult. Furthermore, the test diets of organic and conventional origin can be constituted in different ways, compensating for or maintaining existing differences in nutrient and energy contents. The science-based results suggest positive influences from organic feeds, but there is still a need for confirmation in animals and, finally, in humans. For this purpose animal feeding trials with feed from different production systems should be conducted, with the aims to define health indicators and to establish biomarkers as a basis for future dietary intervention studies in humans.

show abstract

Are Food Preference Tests with Laboratory Rats a Proper Method for Evaluating Nutritional Quality?

Cited by 10 publications

References 17 publications

Dependent on dietary treatments of mothers, rats showed individual preference of diets containing ingredients produced with different cultivation strategies

Dependent on dietary treatments of mothers, rats showed individual preference of diets containing ingredients produced with different cultivation strategies

Wheat quality in organic and conventional farming: results of a 21 year field experiment

Feeding trials in organic food quality and health research

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About