Abstract
Consumption of organic products is increasing yearly due to perceived health-promoting qualities. Several studies have shown higher amounts of phytochemicals such as polyphenols and carotenoids in foods produced by this type of agriculture than in conventional foods, but whether this increase has an impact on humans still needs to be assessed. A randomized, controlled and crossover study was carried out in nineteen healthy subjects aged 18–40 years, who all followed an organic and conventional healthy diet, both for a 4-week period. Analysis of biological samples revealed a significant increase on the excretion of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HBA), a phenolic metabolite with biological activity, after the organic intervention. However, no changes were observed in the other variables analyzed.
Highlights
Organic food consumption has been increasing yearly over the last decade due to growing public awareness of its environmental benefits and alleged healthy properties [1,2]
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an intervention with organic diet versus a conventional one on biological parameters, inorganic elements, bioactive compounds, and phenolic acids and carotenes in healthy subjects
This compound is produced from anthocyanins catabolism, as a metabolite of pelargonidin [34,35,36], and it can be formed by the colonic microbiota [36,37]
Summary
Organic food consumption has been increasing yearly over the last decade due to growing public awareness of its environmental benefits and alleged healthy properties [1,2]. The general belief that organic produce is healthier due to a lower use of chemical agents, such as pesticides, fertilizers and antibiotics, [3] is supported by studies reporting lower concentrations of pesticide residues in individuals consuming organic food [4,5,6,7,8]. Differences in nutritional composition associated with the cropping system have been found, but more studies are needed to draw conclusions [9]. Factors known to influence the nutritional composition of food include crop variety, geographical location, climatic conditions, soil type, season and state of maturity from harvest to storage. Organic food seems to have higher amounts of bioactive compounds such as polyphenols and carotenoids than conventionally produced food [10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. A lack of synthetic protectors (pesticides, chemical fertilizers, etc.)
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