Qualitative differences of spinach [Spinacia oleracea] grown under organic or conventional farming in autumn and winter
2008
Murayama, T.(National Agricultural Research Center for Tohoku Region, Fukushima (Japan)) | Miyazawa, K. | Hasegawa, H.
The objective of this study was to compare the quality of spinach grown by commercial organic and conventional farming methods in autumn and winter. The parameters that determine spinach quality, including ascorbic acid, beta-carotene, nitrate, oxalate, sucrose, and free amino acids, were analyzed from 16 pairs of organic and conventional farms. Based fresh and dry weights, organically produced spinach was found to contain significantly lower beta-carotene content but had significantly higher glutamine, proline and total free amino acid contents. beta-carotene content was correlated with total nitrogen and nitrate contents in spinach, indicating that the significant difference in beta-carotene content between organically and conventionally grown spinach was due to differences in nitrogen level in the soil. However, the difference in free amino acid was not significant.
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