Organic agriculture: does it enhance or reduce the nutritional value of plant foods?

Abstract

The possible differences between organic and conventional plant products are examined from the view of possible effects on human health. It is concluded that nutritionally important differences relating to contents of minerals, vitamins, proteins and carbohydrates are not likely, primarily since none of these are de®cient in typical First World diets, nor are present levels of pesticide residues in conventional products a cause for concern. However, there is reason to believe that contents of many defence-related secondary metabolites in the diet are lower than optimal for human health, even for those where too high levels are known to be harmful. High biological activity resulting in adverse effects on growth of animals and children may be directly linked with promotion of longevity. There is ample, but circumstantial, evidence that, on average, organic vegetables and fruits most likely contain more of these compounds than conventional ones, allowing for the possibility that organic plant foods may in fact bene®t human health more than corresponding conventional ones. The authors de®ne testable scienti®c hypotheses which should be further investigated to provide more de®nitive answers to the question.

Organic Agriculture 3.0 is innovation with research

“…Comprehensive studies have shown clear advantages for several parameters describing a higher product quality of organic produce compared to products derived from mainstream agriculture (Baker et al 2002;Benbrook 2015). The limited availability and uptake of nitrogen is considered as responsible for the often higher contents of secondary metabolites as beneficial ingredients in organic products compared to conventional (Mozafar 1993;Brandt and Molgaard 2001;Köpke 2005). …”

Applying Determined Ratios of Stable Isotopes Ratios in Selected Elements to Evaluate Authenticity of Organically Grown Products

“…Wzrasta zainteresowanie żywnością ekologiczną, uznawaną za bardziej bezpieczną dla zdrowia człowieka [5,12,25]. Produkcja żywności ekologicznej wyklucza moż-liwość stosowania pestycydów i nawozów mineralnych, a dopuszcza stosowanie nawozów organicznych [20].…”

Handbook of Plant Food Phytochemicals

“…A limited number of research studies have compared nutritional content in organic and conventionally grown vegetables rather than fruit, with very few examining phytochemical content (reviewed in [35,191]). In general the evidence suggests little difference in the nutritional content of organically cultivated crops with the exception that levels of nitrates are lower and levels of vitamin C and dry matter content may higher than in conventionally grown crops [18,142,181,183]. Some reports suggest increased levels of phytochemicals in organically grown crops [187,191] and some authors have suggested that phytochemicals which can be considered as defence related secondary metabolites could be considerably higher in organic vegetables [18].…”