The DOI matches its Crossref record; 162 of the 162 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Agroecosystem Management and Nutritional Quality of Plant Foods: The Case of Organic Fruits and Vegetables
Open accessAbstract
Organic and conventional crop management systems differ in terms of the fertilisers and plant protection methods used. Ecological and agronomic research on the effect of fertilization on plant composition shows that increasing availability of plant available nitrogen reduces the accumulation of defense-related secondary metabolites and vitamin C, while the contents of secondary metabolites such as carotenes that are not involved in defense against diseases and pests may increase. In relation to human health, increased intake of fruits and vegetables is linked to reduced risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. This benefit may be primarily due to their content of defense-related secondary metabolites, since most other constituents of fruits and vegetables either are not unique to these foods or have been shown to not provide health benefits when the intake is increased. A meta-analysis of the published comparisons of the content of secondary metabolites and vitamins in organically and conventionally produced fruits and vegetables showed that in organic produce the content of secondary metabolites is 12% higher than in corresponding conventional samples ( P< 0.0001). This overall difference spans a large variation among sub-groups of secondary metabolites, from a 16% higher content for defence-related compounds ( P< 0.0001) to a nonsignificant 2% lower content for carotenoids, while vitamin C showed a 6% higher content ( P= 0.006). Based on the assumption that increasing the content of biologically active compounds in fruits and vegetables by 12% would be equivalent to increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables by the same 12%, a model developed to calculate the health outcome of increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables was then used to tentatively estimate the potential increase in life expectancy that would be achieved by switching from conventional to organic produce without changing the amount consumed per day, to 17 days for women and 25 days for men.
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In the citing paper
“However, these systematic reviews (1) used different methodologies (e.g. weighted and unweighted meta-analyses) and inclusion criteria, (2) did not cover most of the large amount of information published in the last 4–5 years, (3) provided no structured assessment of the strength of the evidence presented, and (4) came to contrasting conclusions.”
In the citing paper
“Several systematic literature reviews have recently analysed the available published information, using both qualitative and quantitative methods, with the aim of identifying the potential effects of organic and conventional production protocols on the nutritional quality of crops( 19 – 21 ).”
In the citing paper
“As a result, there is still considerable controversy as to whether the use of organic production standards results in significant and consistent changes in the concentrations of potentially health-promoting (e.g. antioxidants, (poly)phenolics, vitamins and certain minerals) and potentially harmful (e.g. Cd and Pb) compounds in crops and crop-based foods( 7 , 19 – 22 ).”
In the citing paper
“In contrast, there is increasing evidence that differences in fertilisation regimens between organic and conventional production systems (and, in particular, the non-use of high mineral N fertiliser inputs) are significant drivers for higher (poly)phenolic concentrations in organic crops( 20 , 49 – 52 ).”
In the citing paper
“For plant secondary metabolites, this confirms the results of the meta-analyses carried out by Brandt et al. ( 20 ), which indicated that there are significant composition differences between organic and conventional crops for a range of nutritionally relevant compounds.”
In the citing paper
“As has been mentioned in previous reviews( 19 – 21 ), pooling diverse information was necessary, because for most of the composition parameters, the number of published studies available was not sufficient to carry out separate meta-analyses for specific countries/regions and crop types and species.”
In the citing paper
“In contrast to previous literature reviews( 19 – 21 ), the larger number of studies now available allowed separate meta-analyses to be carried out for different crop types (e.g. fruits, vegetables and cereals), but only for a limited number of composition parameters.”
In the citing paper
“This is not surprising as both genetic and environmental/agronomic factors are known to affect the concentrations of N, , , proteins, sugars, antioxidants/(poly)phenolics, Cd and pesticides in crops( 7 , 9 – 12 , 20 , 47 – 52 , 62 ).”
Citations
Cites
Prospective Studies Collaboration (2009) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(09)60318-4 · Cited by 4,807
The meta-analysis of response ratios in experimental ecology
Hedges, L. V., Gurevitch, J., & Curtis, P. S. (1999) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/0012-9658(1999)080[1150:tmaorr]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 4,704 · cited 2×
“%) was ln-transformed, and the transformed values were used to determine if the arithmetic average of the ln-transformed ratios were significantly different from ln(100), using resampling (Hedges et al., 1999).”
MethodTherapeutic potential of resveratrol: the in vivo evidence
Baur, J. A., & Sinclair, D. A. (2006) · Nature Reviews Drug Discovery · doi:10.1038/nrd2060 · Cited by 3,958
The nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide pathway in physiology and therapeutics
Lundberg, J. O., Weitzberg, E., & Gladwin, M. T. (2008) · Nature Reviews Drug Discovery · doi:10.1038/nrd2466 · Cited by 2,739 · cited 2×
“…increasing number of studies indicate that and how plant-derived nitrate may provide significant benefits for human health (McKnight et al., 1999; Lundberg et al., 2008), quantitative data on consequences for health of the consumer are scarce and controversial, and some data are being published…”
BackgroundPreharvest and postharvest factors influencing vitamin C content of horticultural crops
Lee, S. K., & Kader, A. A. (2000) · Postharvest Biology and Technology · doi:10.1016/s0925-5214(00)00133-2 · Cited by 2,469
Out Of The Quagmire Of Plant Defense Hypotheses
Stamp, N. E. (2003) · The Quarterly Review of Biology · doi:10.1086/367580 · Cited by 1,281
Nitrate in vegetables: toxicity, content, intake and EC regulation
Santamaria, P. (2006) · Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture · doi:10.1002/jsfa.2351 · Cited by 1,064
Organic agriculture and the global food supply
Badgley, C. E., Moghtader, J., Quintero, E., Zakem, E. J., Chappell, M. J., Avilés-Vázquez, K. R., Samulon, A., & Perfecto, I. (2007) · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · doi:10.1017/s1742170507001640 · Cited by 1,058
Plantas medicinais: fatores de influência no conteúdo de metabólitos secundários
Gobbo‐Neto, L., & Lopes, N. P. (2007) · Química Nova · doi:10.1590/s0100-40422007000200026 · Cited by 1,031
Asami, D. K., Hong, Y., Barrett, D. M., & Mitchell, A. E. (2003) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry · doi:10.1021/jf020635c · Cited by 997
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- Rembialkowska , E. , Hallmann , E. and Rusakzonek , A. 2007 . “ Influence of processing on bio-active substances content and anti-oxidant properties of apple puree from organic and conventional production in Poland ” . In 3rd QLIF Congress , Edited by: Niggli , U. , Leifert , C. , Alföldi , T. , Lück , L. and Willer , H. 139 – 143 . Germany : Hohenheim .
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Organic agriculture in the twenty-first century
Reganold, J. P., & Wachter, J. M. (2016) · Nature Plants · doi:10.1038/nplants.2015.221 · Cited by 2,130
Barański, M., Średnicka-Tober, D., Volakakis, N., Seal, C., Sanderson, R., Stewart, G. B., Benbrook, C., Biavati, B., Markellou, E., Giotis, C., et al. (2014) · British Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s0007114514001366 · Cited by 684
“by the authors as closest to the typical, contemporary organic/ conventional farming system was used in the meta-analyses, as recommended by Brandt et al.((20)).”
InfluentialSelf-citationAre Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives?: A Systematic Review
Smith-Spangler, C., Brandeau, M. L., Hunter, G. E., Bavinger, J. C., Pearson, M., Eschbach, P. J., Sundaram, V., Liu, H., Schirmer, P., Stave, C., et al. (2012) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-157-5-201209040-00007 · Cited by 602
Dietary factors affecting polyphenol bioavailability
Bohn, T. (2014) · Nutrition Reviews · doi:10.1111/nure.12114 · Cited by 601
Many shades of gray—The context-dependent performance of organic agriculture
Seufert, V., & Ramankutty, N. (2017) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.1602638 · Cited by 523
“S3 and S5) and only the oldest and smallest (104) of four quantitative reviews and meta-analyses (101, 102, 104, 105) did not find an effect.”
BackgroundResultInfluential
Metadata
- Authors
- Brandt, K., Leifert, C., Sanderson, R., & Seal, C. J.
- Affiliations
- Newcastle University (GB)
- Venue
- Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2011-01
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 1-2
- Pages
- 177-197
- ISSN
- 0735-2689 (ISSN-L)
- 1549-7836
- OpenAlex
- W2141937908
- Semantic Scholar
- 2813c295572d2bb84716e65514956c99d57c8230
- Cited by
- 253
- References
- 162
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 20.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity)
- Funders
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- European Commission
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Organic Food and Agriculture
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry (medical) › Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Activities
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Plant Growth and Agriculture Techniques
- Keywords
- organic farming, conventional farming, organic fruits and vegetables, secondary metabolites, carotenoids, vitamin C, plant nutrition, nitrogen fertilization, plant defense compounds, cancer risk, cardiovascular disease, life expectancy, agroecosystem management
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