Lupine Publishers | Scholarly Journal of Food and Nutrition
Abstract
Organic agriculture is a unique
production management system which promotes and enhances agro ecosystem health,
including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity [1].
Conventional agriculture is characterized by using a great amount of chemical
fertilizers, synthetic pesticides, and growth regulators etc., resulting in
heavy reliance on non-renewable resources. The present investigation was
carried out with the objectives to study the nutrient composition of garlic
grown under organic and inorganic conditions. Samples of organically and
inorganically grown garlic were procured from the university farm. Proximate
Nutrients composition and mineral composition of garlic grown organically and
inorganically was studied. The results of the present study revealed that
inorganically grown garlic had significantly higher moisture and crude protein
per cent as compared to organically grown garlic. Significant difference was
observed in crude fibre content of the organically grown and inorganically
grown garlic. Garlic grown organically had significantly higher ash content as
compared to their inorganically grown and conventionally grown counterparts.
Calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, and manganese content of organically grown
garlic were significantly higher as compared to inorganically grown garlic.
Keywords: Garlic; Nutritional evaluation; Organic; Inorganic;
Conventional
Introduction
Organic agriculture is a unique
production management system which promotes and enhances agro ecosystem health,
including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity [1].
Organic agriculture system is based on principle intended to guarantee the
production of nutritious food with minimal environmental impact [2]. Organic
system consistently differs from conventional system primarily in the
prohibition of manufactured soluble fertilizers and pesticides. The extent to
which these inputs are replaced by alternative management practices for inputs
such as green manure crops, compost, fertilizers or integrated pest management
varies between commodities, location and individual farmers [3]. Conventional
agriculture is characterized by using a great amount of chemical fertilizers,
synthetic pesticides, and growth regulators etc., resulting in heavy reliance
on non-renewable resources, reduced biodiversity, polluted water resources,
chemical residues in food, soil degradation and health risks to farm workers
handling pesticides all of which bring into question the sustainability of the
conventional farming system [4,5].
Public interest is increasingly
focusing on the problem of the quality of foods because of people’s growing
awareness of health and the environment. The global consumer is increasingly
becoming health cautious with diet being the most important aspect in health
control agenda. Pesticides are widely used throughout the world in agriculture
to protect crops, but they pose significant health problems besides commonly
contaminating soil, air and water. The high-risk groups exposed to pesticides
include the production workers, formulators, sprayers, mixers, loaders and
agricultural farm workers. Organic food products with high nutritive value and
without chemicals (with potential carcinogenic and mutagenic properties) are
being increasingly preferred over conventional agro products, which are
cultivated using insecticides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers. The
vegetable crops have been well advocated in solving the problem of food
security in India.
They are rich source of minerals,
vitamins, fibre and contain a fair amount of protein as well as carbohydrates.
Garlic and its supplements have long been consumed in many cultures as a
natural remedy against a range of human illnesses, including various bacterial,
viral and fungal infections, hypolipidemic, antiplatelet, antitumoral,
regulating blood pressure, lowering blood sugar and cholesterol levels and
providing pro circulatory effects. It is fascinating to observe how ancient
cultures came to the same conclusion about garlic’s action and efficacy as
confirmed from results of modern science. Analysis of data showed in numerous
studies confirm that many people believe that organic foods are healthier and
safer than inorganically produced foods and are produced in a more
environmentally compatible manner [1,6].
Although the interest in the
organically grown foods has been on increase, there have not been substantial
studies to substantiate convincingly that organically grown foods are
nutritionally superior to their inorganically grown counterparts. Organic
Farming can contribute to meaningful socio-economic and ecologically
sustainable development, especially in poorer countries [7]. Owing to the
nutritional importance of vegetables in our diet and increasing concern toward
health and organic farming of people’s it becomes important to evaluate the
nutrient composition of vegetables grown under organic and inorganic conditions.
The present investigation tried to determine the nutrient composition of
garlics grown under organic and inorganic conditions.
Materials and Methods
Procurement
of Vegetables
The samples of the garlic grown
under organic and inorganic conditions were procured from Vegetables Farm,
Chaudhry Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. Samples of garlic
were also procured from the local market for comparative study.
Nutrient
Composition
Sample Preparation: After cleaning garlic cloves dried in hot air oven at 60 ±
5 °C. After drying, dried powder garlic were grounds in an electric grinder to
a fine powder. The powder kept in an air tight container at room temperature
for further analysis except for moisture in which fresh samples of garlic was
used. Proximate Nutrients: Moisture (in fresh sample), crude protein, crude
fibre, and total ash were estimated by employing standard method of analysis
[8].
Minerals: Total minerals including Ca, P, Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu were
analysed by using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer [9].
Data
Analysis
Standard method of statistics i.e.
analysis of variance was used for analyzing the data obtained.
Result and discussion
Proximate
Composition of Vegetables
The data presented in Table 1 showed
that moisture content of organically grown and conventionally grown was almost
similar but inorganically grown garlic contained significantly higher moisture
content (62.89 %) as compared to organically (62.04%) and conventionally grown
(62.01%) garlic. These variations in the moisture content of vegetables might
be because plant grown in inorganically managed soil grows very fast and in
this period of rapid growth, there is more water uptake and less nutrient
uptake from the soil [10]. But in contrast, plants grown organically managed soil
take time to grow and have more time to absorb nutrients from soil and thus
have less water in their cell matrix.
It has been observed that both
conventionally grown and inorganically grown garlic had significantly higher
protein content (6.85 and 6.78 %) respectively as compared to organically grown
garlic (6.33 %). The lower crude protein content in the organically grown
vegetables might be attributed to the non-availability of adequate nitrogen
content throughout the crop growth period, as there is slow release of nitrogen
from organic manures [11]. The crude fibre content of garlic grown organically,
inorganically and conventionally was observed almost similar. However, ash
content of organically grown garlic was observed significantly higher (4.26 %)
as compared to inorganically grown (3.82 %) and conventionally grown garlic
counterparts (3.96 %). This might be attributed to higher dry matter content of
the organically grown vegetables.
Mineral
Composition of Vegetables:
The data on mineral composition
elucidated in Table depicted that garlic grown under organic conditions had
significantly higher amount of calcium (53.83 mg/100 g) as compared to those
were grown under inorganic conditions (47.18 mg/100 g); however, calcium
content of conventionally grown garlic (50.00 mg /100 g) non significantly
differed from organically and inorganically grown counterparts. Organically
grown garlic had significantly higher amount of phosphorus and iron (344 and
3.82 mg/100 g) respectively as compared to inorganically grown as well as
conventionally grown garlic (323.83 and 320.83; 2.35 and 2.48 mg/100 g)
respectively. Non-significant differences were observed between conventionally
grown and inorganically grown garlic for their phosphorus and iron content. The
increase in phosphorus content of organically grown vegetables may be
attributed to increased availability of soil phosphorus due to the solubilizing
effect of organic acids, which are produced from decomposing organic manures.
Further, the organic manures also
reduce the fixation of phosphorus and increase the available phosphorus
concentration in soil for absorption resulting in increased content of
phosphorus in vegetables [11]. Variation in iron content of organically and
inorganically grown vegetables might be attributed to the fact that
inorganically managed soils contain adequate amount of iron but in an
unavailable form. The presence of abundant microorganisms in organically
managed soil stimulates substances such as citrate and lactate to combine with
the soil iron and make them more available to plant roots [12]. The comparison
between mean values of zinc content of garlic revealed that organically grown
and conventionally grown garlic had significantly higher (2.07 and 2.06mg/100g)
zinc content as compared to inorganically grown garlic (1.61mg/100g); whereas a
non-significant difference was observed between organically grown and
conventionally grown garlic.
Copper content of organically grown
garlic (0.97 mg/100g) was significantly higher as compared to their inorganically
grown (0.68mg/100g) and conventionally grown (0.72mg / 100g) respectively.
Copper and zinc are common constituents of animal feed supplements and a
possible explanation for the higher concentrations of Cu and Zn in the organic
samples is that the application of manures, more typical of organic
cultivation, may act as an additional source of Cu and Zn to the soil and the
plants [13,14]. Garlic grown under organic conditions had significantly higher
manganese content (1.88mg/100g) as compared to those were grown under inorganic
conditions (1.79 mg/100g). However, manganese content of organically grown and
conventionally grown garlic (1.86mg/100g) was observed almost similar.
Conclusion
We can conclude that organically
grown garlic may have more nutritional benefits than inorganically grown
counterparts and consumption of these vegetables can be beneficial for our
health though more research is needed on this part. People should be encouraged
to consume organically grown vegetables as they have better nutrient profile
and consumer acceptability
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