London (18.1.08) – We have earlier noted the difficulty of comparing the nutritional value of organically and non-organically grown products (1).

A new report (2) has confirmed exactly the points we made then. On four participating commercial farms, organically produced tomatoes were higher in sugars and other soluble solids, consistency and acidity, all desirable attributes in processing. However, the organically grown tomatoes were lower in red colour (indicative of the carotene lycopene), vitamin C and phenolics, all regarded as “healthy”.

Just as we noted earlier (1), the results from this study varied significantly among the four farms, perhaps due to differences in soil type, soil nutrients, tomato varieties, environmental conditions and production methods. As a result, the authors of the study were unable to make general statements about the comparative quality and nutritional value of organically grown and conventionally grown processing tomatoes.

Sources:

1. “Organic is better” – but how do you know? CropGen (3.7.07) (http://www.cropgen.org/article_130.html)

2. Tomato study points to organic pros and cons on four farms. News & Information, UC Davis (12.12.07) (http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8450)

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