Mycotoxin contamination in organic and conventional cereal grain and products: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis.

There is still considerable controversy about the relative risk of mycotoxin exposure associated with the consumption of organic and conventional cereals. Using validated protocols, we carried out a systematic literature review and meta-analyses of data on the incidence and concentrations of mycotoxins produced by Fusarium, Claviceps, Penicillium, and Aspergillus species in organic and conventional cereal grains/products. The standard weighted meta-analysis of concentration data detected a significant effect of production system (organic vs. conventional) only for the Fusarium mycotoxins deoxynivalenol, with concentrations ∼50% higher in conventional than organic cereal grains/products (p < 0.0001). Weighted meta-analyses of incidence data and unweighted meta-analyses of concentration data also detected small, but significant effects of production system on the incidence and/or concentrations of T-2/HT-2 toxins, zearalenone, enniatin, beauvericin, ochratoxin A (OTA), and aflatoxins. Multilevel meta-analyses identified climatic conditions, cereal species, study type, and analytical methods used as important confounding factors for the effects of production system. Overall, results from this study suggest that (i) Fusarium mycotoxin contamination decreased between the 1990s and 2020, (ii) contamination levels are similar in organic and conventional cereals used for human consumption, and (iii) maintaining OTA concentrations below the maximum contamination levels (3.0 µg/kg) set by the EU remains a major challenge.

The effect of an organic food intervention treatment on biomarkers of exposure to lead and cadmium in primary school children of Cyprus: A cluster-randomized crossover trial.

BACKGROUND: Food contaminants, such as, pesticides and metals are ubiquitous in the food chain. Studies routinely report on the metals content of organic and conventional food crops. However, comparative human studies on the body burden of metals associated with organic food consumption are currently lacking. OBJECTIVES: The objectives were to i) determine the effectiveness of an organic food intervention in reducing the body burden of urinary concentration of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) and ii) evaluate the association between metal exposures and biomarkers of oxidative damage in primary school children in Cyprus. METHODS: This study was part of the ORGANIKO cluster-randomized crossover trial, a 40-day organic food treatment to 149 healthy children (10-12 years) in Cyprus. Urinary biomarkers of Pb and Cd were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Linear mixed-effect regression models were used to account for the effect and duration of the organic food treatment. Multiple comparisons were handled using Benjamini-Hochberg correction. RESULTS: A time-dependent reduction for creatinine-adjusted Pb during the intervention period was observed (ß = -0.021; 95% CI: -0.034, -0.008; p-adjusted = 0.01). A similar trend was observed for creatinine-adjusted Cd, but it was not significant (ß = -0.013; 95% CI: -0.026, 0.000; p-adjusted = 0.15). The creatinine-adjusted oxidative damage biomarkers were significantly associated with both metal biomarkers; Pb (8-OHdG: ß = 0.388, 95% CI: 0.303, 0.472; p-adjusted<0.001; MDA: ß = 0.187, 95% CI: 0.109, 0.265; p-adjusted<0.001; 8-iso-PGF2a: ß = 0.320, 95% CI: 0.244, 0.397; p-adjusted<0.001), and Cd (8-OHdG: ß = 0.148, 95% CI: 0.063, 0.233; p-adjusted = 0.003; MDA: ß = 0.107, 95% CI: 0.030, 0.184; p-adjusted = 0.018; 8-iso-PGF2a: ß = 0.263, 95% CI: 0.186, 0.339; p-adjusted<0.001). DISCUSSION: A 40-day organic food treatment reduced primary school children's exposures to Pb over time. More human studies in settings with high food contaminant profiles across common crops are warranted.

Natural abundance analysis of the role played by 15 N as indicator for the certification of organic-system deriving food.

BACKGROUND: The natural abundance of stable isotope 15 N (δ15 N) in production systems has emerged as an alternative to distinguish organic products from conventional ones. This study evaluated the use of δ15 N values recorded for nitrogen fertilizers, soil and plant tissue in order to set the differences between organic and conventional agricultural production systems applied to rice, potatoes, apple and banana crops. RESULTS: Values of δ15 N recorded for N sources ranged from +5.58‰ to +18.27‰ and from -3.55‰ to +3.19‰ in organic and synthetic fertilizers, respectively. Values recorded for δ15 N in food from organic rice, potatoes and banana farms were higher than values recorded for δ15 N in conventional farms; the same was observed for values recorded for δ15 N in leaves from the four crops. CONCLUSION: Results have allowed for differentiation between production systems due to values of δ15 N recorded in leaves of all crops and food, for rice, potatoes and banana trees. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Organic food and the impact on human health.

In the last decade, the production and consumption of organic food have increased steadily worldwide, despite the lower productivity of organic crops. Indeed, the population attributes healthier properties to organic food. Although scientific evidence is still scarce, organic agriculture seems to contribute to maintaining an optimal health status and decreases the risk of developing chronic diseases. This may be due to the higher content of bioactive compounds and lower content of unhealthy substances such as cadmium and synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in organic foods of plant origin compared to conventional agricultural products. Thus, large long-term intervention studies are needed to determine whether an organic diet is healthier than a diet including conventionally grown food products. This review provides an update of the present knowledge of the impact of an organic versus a conventional food diet on health.

Evolution of reference materials for the determination of organic nutrients in food and dietary supplements-a critical review.

For over 40 years, food-matrix certified reference materials (CRMs) have been available for determination of trace element content, and a wide variety of materials are available from most producers of CRMs. However, the availability of food-matrix CRMs for organic nutrients has been more limited. The European Commission (EC) Bureau Communautaire de Référence (BCR) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) introduced food-matrix CRMs with values assigned for vitamins and other organic nutrients such as fatty acids and carotenoids in the 1990s. The number of organic nutrients for which values were assigned has increased significantly in the past decade, and the approach and analytical methods used for assignment of the certified values have also evolved. Recently, dietary supplement-matrix CRMs such as multivitamin tablets with values assigned for vitamins and carotenoids, and fish and plant oils with values assigned for fatty acids have appeared. The development, evolution, and improvement of food- and dietary supplement-matrix CRMs for determination of vitamins, carotenoids, and fatty acids are described, with emphasis on CRMs made available in the past 10 years. Recent food and dietary supplement CRMs for the determination of organic nutrients include infant formula, multivitamin tablets, milk and egg powders, breakfast cereal, meat homogenate, blueberries, soy flour, fish and plant oils, dry cat food, and protein drink powder. Many of these food- and supplement-matrix CRMs have values assigned for over 80 organic and inorganic nutrients, toxic elements, proximates, and contaminants. The review provides a critical assessment of the challenges and evolving improvements in the production and the analytical methods used for value assignment of these CRMs. The current status and future needs for additional food- and dietary supplement-matrix CRMs for organic nutrients are also discussed. Graphical abstract Food Composition Triangle with currently-available food-matrix certified reference materials (CRMs) for the determination of organic nutrients positioned according to fat, protein, and carbohydrate composition.

Production-related contaminants (pesticides, antibiotics and hormones) in organic and conventionally produced milk samples sold in the USA.

OBJECTIVE: Consumption of cow's milk, which is associated with diet and health benefits, has decreased in the USA. The simultaneous increase in demand for more costly organic milk suggests consumer concern about exposure to production-related contaminants may be contributing to this decline. We sought to determine if contaminant levels differ by the production method used. DESIGN: Half-gallon containers of organic and conventional milk (four each) were collected by volunteers in each of nine US regions and shipped on ice for analysis. Pesticide, antibiotic and hormone (bovine growth hormone (bGH), bGH-associated insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1)) residues were measured using liquid or gas chromatography coupled to mass or tandem mass spectrometry. Levels were compared against established federal limits and by production method. SETTING: Laboratory analysis of retail milk samples. RESULTS: Current-use pesticides (5/15 tested) and antibiotics (5/13 tested) were detected in several conventional (26-60 %; n 35) but not in organic (n 34) samples. Among the conventional samples, residue levels exceeded federal limits for amoxicillin in one sample (3 %) and in multiple samples for sulfamethazine (37 %) and sulfathiazole (26 %). Median bGH and IGF-1 concentrations in conventional milk were 9·8 and 3·5 ng/ml, respectively, twenty and three times that in organic samples (P < 0·0001). CONCLUSIONS: Current-use antibiotics and pesticides were undetectable in organic but prevalent in conventionally produced milk samples, with multiple samples exceeding federal limits. Higher bGH and IGF-1 levels in conventional milk suggest the presence of synthetic growth hormone. Further research is needed to understand the impact of these differences, if any, on consumers.

NMR-based differentiation of conventionally from organically produced chicken eggs in Germany.

Both the German and European organic food markets are growing fast, and there is also a rising demand for organic chicken eggs. Consumers are willing to pay higher prices for organic eggs produced in an animal-appropriate environment considering animal welfare. Strict labelling requirements do not prevent chicken eggs from being a subject of food fraud. Conventionally produced (barn/free-range) eggs can easily be mislabeled as organic eggs. Especially because the demand for organically produced chicken eggs is likely to exceed supply in the future, mislabeling appears to be a realistic scenario. Therefore, there is a need for analytical methods that are suitable to classify eggs as being either conventionally or organically produced. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in combination with multivariate data analysis is a suitable tool to screen eggs according to the different systems of husbandry. Sample preparation is based on a fat extraction method, which was optimised for application to freeze-dried egg yolk. Samples were analysed using typical q-NMR parameters. A nontargeted approach was used for the analysis of the 1 H NMR data. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied followed by a linear discriminant analysis (PCA-LDA) and Monte Carlo cross-validation. In total, 344 chicken eggs (214 barn/free-range eggs and 130 eggs from organic farms), most of them originating from Germany, were used to build and validate the prediction model. The results showed that the prediction model allowed for the correct classification of about 93% of the organic eggs.

Effects of Organic and Conventional Growing Systems on the Phenolic Profile of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.

Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) is largely appreciated for its proven nutritional properties. Additionally, organic foods are perceived as healthier by consumers. In this context, the aim of the present study was to compare the phenolic profiles of EVOO from olives of the Hojiblanca variety, cultivated under organic and conventional systems. The quantification and identification of individual polyphenols was carried out by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry in tandem mode (LC-MS/MS). Significantly higher levels (p < 0.05) of phenolic compounds were found in organic EVOOs. The methodology used was able to detect previously unreported differences in bioactive components between organic and conventional EVOOs.

NMR-Based Μetabolomics of the Lipid Fraction of Organic and Conventional Bovine Milk.

Origin and quality identification in dairy products is an important issue and also an extremely challenging and complex experimental procedure. The objective of the present work was to compare the metabolite profile of the lipid fraction of organic and conventional bovine milk using NMR metabolomics analysis. ¹H-NMR and 1D TOCSY NMR methods of analysis were performed on extracted lipid fraction of lyophilized milk. For this purpose, 14 organic and 16 conventional retail milk samples were collected monthly, and 64 bulk-tank (58 conventional and 6 organics) milk samples were collected over a 14-month longitudinal study in Cyprus. Data were treated with multivariate methods (PCA, PLS-DA). Minor components were identified and quantified, and modification of the currently used equations is proposed. A significantly increased % content of conjugated (9-cis, 11-trans)18:2 linoleic acid (CLA), α-linolenic acid, linoleic acid, allylic protons and total unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) and decreased % content for caproleic acid were observed in the organic samples compared to the conventional ones. The present work confirms that lipid profile is affected by contrasting management system (organic vs. conventional), and supports the potential of NMR-based metabolomics for the rapid analysis and authentication of the milk from its lipid profile.

Phenolic acids variability and grain quality of organically and conventionally fertilised old wheats under a warm climate.

BACKGROUND: We investigated three old wheats (Triticum dicoccum, Triticum durum, Triticum spelta) for effects of organic and conventional cultivation under equivalent nitrogen fertilisation (100 kg ha-1 ) on antioxidant content and composition, and on quality traits. RESULTS: Compared to conventional cultivation, organic cultivation had positive effects on test weight, while grain quality traits of protein content, gluten content and sodium dodecyl sulphate microsedimentation volume were 19.2%, 9.3% and 22.7% lower, respectively. Despite lower protein content with organic cultivation, this was still high (147 g kg-1 ); thus with adequate organic nitrogen fertilisation, the quality traits related to the technological properties of flour were maintained. Total phenolic content (TPC) was significantly higher for organic versus conventional cultivation, although free and bound phenolic acids were not significantly different. With discriminant analysis, only durum wheat differentiated the qualitative and compositional traits according to cultivation system. Separation of organic versus conventional cultivation in durum wheat and emmer was strongly affected by antioxidants (antioxidant capacity, TPC, yellow pigment content), dietary fibre, protein content and test weight. CONCLUSIONS: With adequate organic nitrogen fertilisation, protein and gluten contents remain high enough for good quality pasta. However, except for TPC, organic cultivation did not affect phenolic acids profile and antioxidant activity. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Cradle-to-grave carbon footprint of dried organic pasta: assessment and potential mitigation measures.

BACKGROUND: In several Environmental Product Declarations, the business-to-business carbon footprint (CFCDC ) of durum wheat semolina dried pasta ranged from 0.57 to 1.72 kg carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e ) kg-1 . In this work, the business-to-consumer carbon footprint (CFCG ) of 1 kg of dry decorticated organic durum wheat semolina pasta, as packed in 0.5 kg polypropylene bags by a South Italian medium-sized pasta factory in the years 2016 and 2017, was assessed in compliance with the Publicly Available Specification 2050 standard method. RESULTS: Whereas CFCDC was mostly conditioned by the greenhouse gases emitted throughout durum wheat cultivation (0.67 vs 1.12 kg CO2e kg-1 ), CFCG was mainly dependent on the use and post-consume phases (0.68 vs 1.81 kg CO2e kg-1 ). CFCG was more or less affected by the pasta types and packing formats used, since it varied from +0.3 to +14.8% with respect to the minimum score estimated (1.74 kg CO2e kg-1 ), which corresponded to long goods packed in 3 kg bags for catering service. Once the main hotspots had been identified, CFCG was stepwise reduced by resorting to a series of mitigation actions. CONCLUSION: Use of more eco-sustainable cooking practices, organic durum wheat kernels resulting from less impacting cultivation techniques, and renewable resources to generate the thermal and electric energy needs reduced CFCG by about 58% with respect to the above reference case. Finally, by shifting from road to rail freight transport and shortening the supply logistics of dry pasta and grains, a further 5% reduction in CFCG was achieved. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Characterization of physicochemical properties of casein mixture preparation extracted from organic milk for use as an emulsifier in organic processed foods.

BACKGROUND: Sodium caseinate (SC) is not considered suitable for use as an emulsifier in organic processed food in the food industry because of the use of prohibited synthetic chemical substances during its production. Casein mixture preparation (CMP), one of the permissible substances specified in the regulations, was isolated from organic milk using citric acid and dibasic potassium phosphate for organic processed foods. RESULTS: To compare CMP and SC, model emulsions stabilized with each substance were prepared at various concentrations and their physicochemical properties were analyzed. The emulsions' stability was determined using Turbiscan under various environmental stresses. The zeta potential of SC and CPM showed a high surface charge (≤ 30 mV) at all protein concentrations. Because the concentration of the protein preparation increased to 0.75% (w/v), the particle size of the CMP emulsion decreased with the surface load increased as much as that of SC. The CMP and SC emulsions were stable at neutral pH and room temperature. However, at acidic pH and high temperature, both emulsions were destabilized by creaming and flocculation and increased the creaming migration rates. CONCLUSION: Overall, our data suggest the use of CMP as an emulsifier substitute for SC in organic processed foods. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Differentiation of Apple Varieties and Investigation of Organic Status Using Portable Visible Range Reflectance Spectroscopy.

Food fraud, the sale of goods that have in some way been mislabelled or tampered with, is an increasing concern, with a number of high profile documented incidents in recent years. These recent incidents and their scope show that there are gaps in the food chain where food authentication methods are not applied or otherwise not sufficient and more accessible detection methods would be beneficial. This paper investigates the utility of affordable and portable visible range spectroscopy hardware with partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) when applied to the differentiation of apple types and organic status. This method has the advantage that it is accessible throughout the supply chain, including at the consumer level. Scans were acquired of 132 apples of three types, half of which are organic and the remaining non-organic. The scans were preprocessed with zero correction, normalisation and smoothing. Two tests were used to determine accuracy, the first using 10-fold cross-validation and the second using a test set collected in different ambient conditions. Overall, the system achieved an accuracy of 94% when predicting the type of apple and 66% when predicting the organic status. Additionally, the resulting models were analysed to find the regions of the spectrum that had the most significance. Then, the accuracy when using three-channel information (RGB) is presented and shows the improvement provided by spectroscopic data.

Differentiation Between Organic and Non-Organic Apples Using Diffraction Grating and Image Processing-A Cost-Effective Approach.

As the expectation for higher quality of life increases, consumers have higher demands for quality food. Food authentication is the technical means of ensuring food is what it says it is. A popular approach to food authentication is based on spectroscopy, which has been widely used for identifying and quantifying the chemical components of an object. This approach is non-destructive and effective but expensive. This paper presents a computer vision-based sensor system for food authentication, i.e., differentiating organic from non-organic apples. This sensor system consists of low-cost hardware and pattern recognition software. We use a flashlight to illuminate apples and capture their images through a diffraction grating. These diffraction images are then converted into a data matrix for classification by pattern recognition algorithms, including k-nearest neighbors (k-NN), support vector machine (SVM) and three partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA)- based methods. We carry out experiments on a reasonable collection of apple samples and employ a proper pre-processing, resulting in a highest classification accuracy of 94%. Our studies conclude that this sensor system has the potential to provide a viable solution to empower consumers in food authentication.

Microencapsulated betacyanin from colored organic quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.): optimization, physicochemical characterization and accelerated storage stability.

BACKGROUND: Betalains are presently gaining popularity as pigments for use as natural colorants and/or bioactive compounds in functional foods. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) has been recognized as an extremely nutritious grain and has recently been found to be a novel and good betalain source. Microencapsulation has been studied as a protected-delivery procedure to stabilize betalains. There are no studies about microencapsulation of betacyanins extracted from quinoa using spray-drying technology. RESULTS: Optimal microencapsulation was obtained at a drying temperature of 165 °C, a rotameter air flow rate of 47 mm (940 L h-1 ) and 10% w/w maltodextrin, which produced good encapsulation yield (58.1%) and efficiency (100%). Optimized maltodextrin-betacyanin microcapsules (diameter 4.4 µm) have low moisture (1.64 ± 0.08%) and water activity (0.127 ± 0.006), a betacyanin content of 0.1995 ± 0.0017 g kg-1 and saponin content <0.080 mg kg-1 . The oxygen consumption rate by betacyanin was -4.373 × 10-5 bar min-1 at 80 °C and -6.67 × 10-5 bar min-1 at 90 °C, which was accompanied by fading of the color. CONCLUSION: Microencapsulated betacyanin was optimized by response surface methodology, and its stability was measured under accelerated conditions by oxygen consumption. Microencapsulations contain betacyanin and low saponin concentration, which might confer unique health-promoting properties. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Quantitative and qualitative assessment of additives present in broiler chicken feed and meat and their implications for human health.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the various constituents of commercial, broiler chicken feed and the presence of these constituents in their meat. METHODS: The experimental study was conducted at the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research laboratory, Karachi. Samples of commercial broiler chicken feed and meat were collected in 2015 from a large poultry farm that supplies chicken meat to various suburban areas of the city. Another set of organic chickens were bred in an animal house. The samples of feed, meat and droppings were then analysed for the estimation of basic constituents and additives in the laboratory. Data was analysed using SPSS 20.0. RESULTS: The constituents were measured in 26 samples of chicken meat from each group. Calories (p<0.01), amount of protein (p<0.01), total fats (p<0.05), cholesterol (p<0.01), saturated fats (p<0.01), monounsaturated (p<0.05) and polyunsaturated fats (p<0.01) were significantly increased in commercial broiler chicken compared to that of organic chicken meat. The commercial chicken feed was found to contain crude carbohydrate, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, vitamins, amino acids, premixes of vitamins and toxicities of roxarsone, melamine and pesticides. Additive constituents were also present in the commercial chicken meat. These components were absent in organic chicken meat and droppings which suggests that they were absent in their feeding contents. CONCLUSIONS: Organic chickens were found to be safer for consumption than commercial chickens.

Principles and limitations of stable isotopes in differentiating organic and conventional foodstuffs: 2. Animal products.

In this review, we examine the variation in stable isotope signatures of the lighter elements (δ2H, δ13C, δ15N, δ18O, and δ34S) of tissues and excreta of domesticated animals, the factors affecting the isotopic composition of animal tissues, and whether stable isotopes may be used to differentiate organic and conventional modes of animal husbandry. The main factors affecting the δ13C signatures of livestock are the C3/C4 composition of the diet, the relative digestibility of the diet components, metabolic turnover, tissue and compound specificity, growth rate, and animal age. δ15N signatures of sheep and cattle products have been related mainly to diet signatures, which are quite variable among farms and between years. Although few data exist, a minor influence in δ15N signatures of animal products was attributed to N losses at the farm level, whereas stocking rate showed divergent findings. Correlations between mode of production and δ2H and δ18O have not been established, and only in one case of an animal product was δ34S a satisfactory marker for mode of production. While many data exist on diet-tissue isotopic discrimination values among domesticated animals, there is a paucity of data that allow a direct and statistically verifiable comparison of the differences in the isotopic signatures of organically and conventionally grown animal products. The few comparisons are confined to beef, milk, and egg yolk, with no data for swine or lamb products. δ13C appears to be the most promising isotopic marker to differentiate organic and conventional production systems when maize (C4) is present in the conventional animal diet. However, δ13C may be unsuitable under tropical conditions, where C4 grasses are abundant, and where grass-based husbandry is predominant in both conventional and organic systems. Presently, there is no universal analytical method that can be applied to differentiate organic and conventional animal products.

Lost in processing? Perceived healthfulness, taste and caloric content of whole and processed organic food.

The "organic" claim explicitly informs consumers about the food production method. Yet, based on this claim, people often infer unrelated food attributes. The current research examined whether the perceived advantage of organic over conventional food generalizes across different organic food types. Compared to whole organic foods, processed organic foods are less available, familiar and prototypical of the organic food category. In two studies (combined N = 258) we investigated how both organic foods types were perceived in healthfulness, taste and caloric content when compared to their conventional alternatives. Participants evaluated images of both whole (e.g., lettuce) and processed organic food exemplars (e.g., pizza), and reported general evaluations of these food types. The association of these evaluations with individual difference variables - self-reported knowledge and consumption of organic food, and environmental concerns - was also examined. Results showed that organically produced whole foods were perceived as more healthful, tastier and less caloric than those produced conventionally, thus replicating the well-established halo effect of the organic claim in food evaluation. The organic advantage was more pronounced among individuals who reported being more knowledgeable about organic food, consumed it more frequently, and were more environmentally concerned. The advantage of the organic claim for processed foods was less clear. Overall, processed organic (vs. conventional) foods were perceived as tastier, more healthful (Study 1) or equally healthful (Study 2), but also as more caloric. We argue that the features of processed food may modulate the impact of the organic claim, and outline possible research directions to test this assumption. Uncovering the specific conditions in which food claims bias consumer's perceptions and behavior may have important implications for marketing, health and public-policy related fields.

Evaluation of polyphenolic content and antioxidant activity in two onion varieties grown under organic and conventional production systems.

BACKGROUND: Onions contain a number of bioactive compounds, in particular polyphenols. They are rich sources of such compounds in the human diet and offer significant health benefits to the consumer. Demand for organic crops is steadily increasing partly based on the expected health benefits of organic food consumption. The current study examines the influence of organic and conventional crop management practices on bioactive polyphenolic content of onion. RESULTS: We examined the effect of conventional, organic, and mixed cultivation practices on the content of total phenolics, total flavonoids and antioxidant activity in two varieties of onion grown over 4 years in a split-plot factorial systems comparison trial. Levels of total phenolics and total flavonoids showed a significant year-on-year variation and were significantly different between organic and conventional production systems. The levels of total phenolics, total flavonoids and antioxidant activity in general were significantly higher (P < 0.05) under fully organic compared to fully conventional management. CONCLUSION: Organic cultivation practices resulted in significantly higher levels of potential bioactive compounds in onion. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Evaluation of phenolic antioxidant content in organically and conventionally grown buckwheat herb crop and its regrowth.

BACKGROUND: Buckwheat herb is known in the pharmaceutical industry as a material rich in phenolics. Buckwheat is also capable of regrowing and producing an additional harvest in the same year. Although buckwheat herb is a popular material, it is not known whether the regrowth has features of the same quality as the first harvest. Therefore, using the herb of 15 varieties of buckwheat cultivated in Lithuania, the present study aimed to examine biometric properties, phenolic content and antioxidant activity as material quality indicators for buckwheat herb and its regrowth under organic and conventional farming conditions. RESULTS: The highest amount of rutin was indicated in the organically cultivated regrowth of 2015. Buckwheat material accumulated significantly (P < 0.05) lower amounts of other phenolics. A significant correlation between phenolic content and antioxidant activity was observed in the herb and its regrowth in both farming systems. CONCLUSION: Regrowth was of similar quality to the first harvest in terms of phenolic content and antioxidant activity, although a downward trend in several biometric features was observed: the height of the regrowth plants was up to two-fold smaller and biomass was five- to nine-fold lower compared to that of the first harvest plants. Organic and industrial farming systems were determined to produce plants of similar quality. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.