Is organic food more nutritious – this question often agitates popular discourse. Let us, therefore, look at the scientific studies that I summarize for you here:
Is organic food more nutritious – a summary of key studies on the subject
We compared the nutritional value, sensory qualities, and food safety of organically and conventionally produced foods. Except for nitrate content, there is no strong evidence that organic and conventional foods differ in concentrations of various nutrients or contaminants (Bourn et al., 2002).
On the other hand, a nutritional quality comparative assessment study of fruits, vegetables, and grains raised in organic and conventional crops showed that the former contained significantly more vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus and significantly less nitrates (Worthington, 2001).
Phenols are important to human health. The total content of this class of metabolites was studied in marionberries, strawberries, and corn cultivated on organic and conventional farms. A comparison was also made in the three most common post-harvest processing treatments — freezing, freeze-drying, and air drying. In all cases, the phenol content was higher in organically raised crops (Asami et al., 2003).
162 studies were analyzed, of which 137 examined nutrient quality in crop products and 25 livestock products. Conventionally produced crops had a significantly higher nitrogen content, and organic crops had a higher phosphorus content and titratable acidity. The scientists also noted no evidence of a difference in nutrient quality between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs. Small differences in nutrient content between the two could be related to differences in production methods (Dangour et al., 2009).
Nutritional differences, such as the content of minerals, vitamins, proteins, and carbohydrates, will determine the popularity of organic and conventional farm products compared to developing countries in the developed parts of the world. As researchers became aware of the importance of compounds that help protect the human body from disease, this difference between organic and conventional crops became an area of interest. Organic vegetables and fruits were more likely to contain more of these defensive compounds when compared to those produced on conventional farms (Brandt et al., 2001).
Magkos et al.’s 2003 analysis shows little evidence that organic and conventional foods differ in the concentrations of various micronutrients like vitamins, minerals, and trace elements. However, they did observe a slight trend towards higher ascorbic acid content in organically grown leafy vegetables and potatoes. Some organic vegetables and cereal crops had lower protein concentrations but higher quality.
Is organic food more nutritious? These plants had better antioxidant defense systems.
Plants grown in organic conditions had better antioxidant defense systems than conventionally raised fruit. This will likely protect against damage to fruit (peaches and pears) when grown without pesticides (Carbonaro et al., 2002). A similar result was observed in some other crops (Lairon, 2011). Organically raised fruit should, therefore, have a better shelf life when compared to those grown conventionally.
Organic tomatoes were seen to have higher vitamin C, carotenoids, and polyphenol content than conventionally grown tomatoes. However, no significant difference was found for lycopene and naringenin when expressed as dry matter. No difference in carotenoid content was found between organic and conventional tomatoes in tomato purees, but vitamin C and polyphenols concentrations remain higher in organic tomato purees (Caris-Veyrat et al., 2004).
This study repeats another claim that organic foods scored higher than conventionally raised ones because they had higher body defense chemicals. However, the nutrient content differences remain the same in both cases.
Given all the benefits of organic over conventional food, the question becomes how consumers view organic products. Are they viewed as better for health, or are they perceived as luxury food? A clear answer to this question could not be obtained in an analysis conducted by a group of scientists who studied a consumer set in the US (Yiridoe et al., 2005).
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