Surveys indicate that consumers consider organic foods to be better for their health and the environment and more flavorful than their conventionally-grown counterparts. This study looked at the effects of conventional, integrated, and organic farming techniques – used in a controlled greenhouse – on the color, minerals, and carotenoid content of sweet peppers.
Findings:
Results showed that organic farming techniques resulted in peppers with the highest intensities of red and yellow colors, higher mineral content and more total carotenoids. Plants grown in an integrated system resulted in fruits at the intermediate values in this study. Plants grown conventionally resulted in fruits with the lowest levels of minerals, carotenoids and color intensity. Organically grown red peppers had the highest antioxidant activity of all fruits in the study.
References:
- Perez-Lopez, A. J., Lopez- Nicolas, J.M., Nunez-Delicado, E., Amor, F.M. D. & Carbonell-Barrachina, A. A. (2007). Effects of agricultural practices on color, carotenoids composition, and minerals contents of sweet peppers, cv. Almuden. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 55(20), 8158-8164. Available on-line at: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/jf071534n
- Perez-Lopez, A. J., Amor, F. M. D., Serrano-Martinez, A., Fortea, M. I., & Nunez-Delicado, E. (2007). Influence of agricultural practices on the quality of sweet pepper fruits as affected by the maturity stage. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 87(11), 2075-2080. Available on-line at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.2966