Concentration of Major and Trace Elements in Organic, Conventional Crops

Background and methodology:

During the last 30 years, the organic cultivated area in Denmark has increased every year. Today, only 17% of the adult consumers in Denmark never buy organic foods and 46% of the organic consumers point out that the primary reason for buying organic foods is their health.  The Danish Food Technology and Development Program (FØTEK) financed this study to carry out a comprehensive survey of the influence of different cultivation practices on the elemental concentration profiles in different types of vegetables and various grains. 210 sample of onions from conventionally and 10 organically cultivated sites and 190 samples of peas from 10 conventionally and 9 organically cultivated sites in Denmark were collected and analyzed for 63 and 55 major and trace elements respectively.
Findings

Comparative statistical tests of the element concentration mean values for each site show significantly (p<0.05) different levels of Ca, Mg, B, Bi, Dy, Eu, Gd, Lu, Rb, Se, Sr, Ti, U and Y between organically and conventionally grown onions and significantly (p<0.05) different levels of P, Gd and Ti between organically and conventionally grown peas.

Reference:
Gundersen, V., Bechmann, I. E., Behrens, A. & Stürup, S. (2000). Comparative investigation of concentrations of major and trace elements in organic and conventional Danish agricultural crops. 1 Onions (Allium cepa Hysam) and Peas (Pisum sativum Ping Pong). J. Agric. Food Chem. 48:6094-6102.