Advances of organic products over conventional productions with
respect to nutritional quality and food
security
Xiaofan
Yua, b, c, Liyue Guoa, b, Gaoming Jianga, b, Yanjie Songa, b, Mahmud Adimuratovich Muminova, b
a Institute of Botany,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
b University of Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
c College of Pharmacy,
Anhui Medical University, Anhui 230032, China
ActaEcologica Sinica 38
(2018) 53–60, 2018
Organic products are derived from
the organic production system, following organic agricultural
cultivation standards, and processing schedules must be identified
by an independent certificate authority. The main characteristic of
the organic agricultural production system is that all artificial
synthetic materials such as pesticides, fertilizers, growth
regulators, feed additives, and gene engineering products are not
allowed to use. However, there is much debate on organic production
quality and health safety issues in academic circles. Some people
believe that there is a “Three Cannot” problem with organic
production, that is, organic products “cannot be distinguished,
cannot be tasted and cannot be measured” compared to common ones.
To objectively reflect the differences in nutritional quality and
food safety between organic and conventional products, we combined
extensive literatures with our research data and have reported some
advances in the sensory quality, nutritional value, and safety of
the two types of products. The results showed that organic products
tasted better; the percentage of leanness was higher, and the
products tasted much tender. The dry matter content of most organic
crops was about 7–20% higher than that of conventional foods, and
enriched vitamin C, anthocyanins, isoflavones, carotenoids, and
other phenolic compounds and more elements such as P, Fe, and Mg
and trace elements such as Zn, Cu, and Cr were verified in organic
crops. Organic animal products contain more beneficial
polyunsaturated fatty acids; the nitrate content in organic fruits
and vegetables was 20–50% of that in normal fruits. No pesticide
residues and less heavy metals were found in the organic products.
Our investigation showed that there were obvious differences in
quality and safety between the products that originated from
organic agriculture systems and conventional alternatives. This
conclusion can provide an important theoretical basis for the
healthy development of the organic industry.