ORGANIC vegetables may be better after all...

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Nutrition

Organic tomatoes contain higher nutrients than conventional tomatoes

By Liu

Jul 7, 2007 - 10:53:19 AM

Organically grown tomatoes may be more valuable than those grown

conventionally as they contain higher levels of beneficial compounds,

according to a new study published in the journal of Agricultural and

Food Chemistry.

Organic crops are widely viewed as nutritionally superior to their

counterparts grown conventionally. Not every one believes in organic

food, but studies have indeed found more nutrients in organic tomatoes

and other plant foods.

In the study, Alyson from the University of California-,

and researchers from University of Minnesota tested two naturally

occurring antioxidants quercetin and kaempferol aglycones in dried

tomato samples grown and processed conventionally or organically

between 1994 and 2004.

Ten-year mean levels of quercetin and kaempferol in organic tomatoes

(115.5 and 63.3 mg per gram of dry matter) were 79 and 97% higher than

those in conventional tomatoes (64.6 and 32.06 mg per gram of dry

matter), the study found.

In addition, the levels of flavonoids increased over time in samples

from organic treatments, but in the samples conventionally grown.

These compounds increased as soil organic matter accumulation

increased in organic plots and manure application rates decreased.

's group also reported in 2006 in the same journal that

" Significantly higher levels of percent soluble solids (17%),

quercetin (30%), kaempferol (17%), and ascorbic acid (26%) were found

in Burbank tomatoes (fresh weight basis; FWB), whereas only levels of

percent soluble solids (10%) and kaempferol (20%) were significantly

higher in organic Ropreco tomatoes (FWB). "

The superiority of organic tomatoes was also reported in the October

2004 issue of the journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry by

Caris-Veyrat C and colleagues in France. The researchers found that

fresh organic tomatoes contained higher vitamin C, carotenoids, and

polyphenol contents (except for chlorogenic acid) than conventional

tomatoes.

..

Primary source:

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, June 2007

" Ten-Year Comparison of the Influence of Organic and Conventional Crop

Management Practices on the Content of Flavonoids in Tomatoes "

A.E. , Y.-J. Hong, E. Koh, D.M. Barrett, D. E. , R.F.

Denison, and S. Kaffka