Modulation of Antioxidant Compounds in Organic vs Conventional Fruit (Peach, Prunus persica L., and Pear, Pyrus communis L.)

Abstract

Despite the increasing interest in organic products, knowledge about how different levels of fertilization affect nutritionally relevant components is still limited. The concentration of polyphenols and the activity of polyphenoloxidase (PPO), together with the content in ascorbic acid, citric acid, and alpha- and gamma-tocopherol, were assayed in conventional and organic peach (Prunus persica L., cv. Regina bianca) and pear (Pyrus communis L., cv. Williams). 2-Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and the tocopherolquinone/alpha-tocopherol ratio were used as markers of oxidative damage in fruits. A parallel increase in polyphenol content and PPO activity of organic peach and pear as compared with the corresponding conventional samples was found. Ascorbic and citric acids were higher in organic than conventional peaches, whereas alpha-tocopherol was increased in organic pear. The concentration of oxidation products in organic samples of both fruits was comparable to that of the corresponding conventional ones. These data provide evidence that an improvement in the antioxidant defense system of the plant occurred as a consequence of the organic cultivation practice. This is likely to exert protection against damage of fruit when grown in the absence of pesticides.

Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Activity in Grape Juices: A Chemical and Sensory View

“…Dani et al [59] observed that the choice of agricultural practice (organic versus conventional) resulted in different amounts of resveratrol, anthocyanins, and tannins in grape juices. This difference is due to the fact that no pesticides are used in organic vineyards and by the fact that usually they have a longer ripening period than conventional vineyards, and as flavonoids are formed during this period, it is believed that organic vineyards yield grapes with a higher phenolic content [85,86].…”

Nutritional quality and safety of organic food. A review

“…While several factors can modulate their plant level such as cultivar, maturity, light or temperature, some studies have compared the levels of some of these phyto-microcompounds in fruit or vegetables depending on the cropping system. For phenols and polyphenols, a majority of studies showed higher levels in organic foodstuffs such as apple (Lucarini et al, 1999), peach (Carbonaro et al, 2002), pear (Carbonaro et al, 2002), potatoes (Hamouz et al, 1999), onion (Ren et al, 2001), tomato (Mitchell et al, 2007), pepper (Pérez-López et al, 2007), orange (Tarozzi et al, 2006) and olive oil (Gutierrez et al, 1999), while some others did not show any difference. It has been estimated in a recent review (Rembialkowska, 2007) that organic plant foods overall contain double the amount of phenolic compounds.…”

Analysis of Functional Components of the Perilla Leaves (Perilla frutescens var. japonica Hara) Grown in Organic and Conventional Conditions

“…깻잎에는 perilla ketone, perilla aldehyde 등의 정유성분이 많이 함유되어있으며, 항암과 면역활성 증 가효과가 있고 (Kim et al, 1993), 항염증, 항알러지 활성 (Cho et al, 2015;Oh et al, 2011;Ueda et al, 2002), 그리고 신 장질환 감소활성 (Makino et al, 2003) (Jung et al, 2003;Hong, 2008;Hyun et al, 2011). (Carbonaro et al, 2002;Ismail et al, 2003;Wunderlich et al, 2008). 토마토에 대한 실험에서는 유기농토마토가 관 행토마토 보다 라이코펜은 20%, Vit.…”