Organic Versus Conventional – a Comparative Study on Quality and Nutritive Value of Selected Vegetable Crops of Southern India
Vegetables are defined as edible plant parts generally consumed raw or cooked with a main dish, in a mixed dish, as an appetizer or as a salad. Food safety aspects related to microbial quality (total plate count, yeast and mold and food borne pathogens) and toxic residue (heavy metals) and mineral content were investigated for vegetables such as green leafy vegetable, salad vegetables, sprouts, brinjal, green chilies and French beans collected from organic and conventional outlets from Mysore region, Karnataka, India. Microbial analysis was carried out using standard procedures and mminerals (Ca, K, Fe, Cu, Mg, Mn and Zn) and heavy metals (Cd and Pb) were determined. Significant variations (p>0.05) were observed for microbial quality among organic and conventional vegetables. Mineral and vitamin C content were also significantly higher (p>0.01) in organic samples. Heavy metal contamination for lead and cadmium tested positive for conventional samples while organic samples tested negative. The variables that contributed most for the variability were heavy metal contamination, mineral and vitamin C content. Organically grown vegetables were free from heavy metals and safe for consumption, as well as they are rich in mineral and vitamin C content in comparison to conventional samples.
SAARC J. Agri., 18(1): 99-116 (2020)
Copyright (c) 2020 SAARC Agricultural Centre
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
© SAARC Agricultural Centre
Copyright on any research article is transferred in full to SAARC Journal of Agriculture upon publication in the journal. The copyright transfer includes the right to reproduce and distribute the article in any form of reproduction (printing, electronic media or any other form).
Articles in the SAARC Journal of Agriculture are Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License] CC BY License.
This license permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.