Fruit and soil quality of organic and conventional strawberry agroecosystems.

ABSTRACT: Sale of organic foods is one of the fastest growing market segments within the global food industry. People often buy organic food because they believe organic farms produce more nutritious and better tasting food from healthier soils. Here we tested if there are significant differences in fruit and soil quality from 13 pairs of commercial organic and conventional strawberry agroecosystems in California. At multiple sampling times for two years, we evaluated three varieties of strawberries for mineral elements, shelf life, phytochemical composition, and organoleptic properties. We also analyzed traditional soil properties and soil DNA using microarray technology. We found that the organic farms had strawberries with longer shelf life, greater dry matter, and higher antioxidant activity and

SUBMITTER: Reganold JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2931688 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature