Johansson Eva, Hussain Abrar, Kuktaite Ramune, Andersson Staffan C, Olsson Marie E
Department of Plant Breeding, The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 101, Alnarp, SE 23053, Sweden.
Department of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of InformationTechnology, Sahiwal Campus, Comsats Road, Sahiwal 57000, Pakistan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2014 Apr 8;11(4):3870-93. doi: 10.3390/ijerph110403870.
An increasing interest in organic agriculture for food production is seen throughout the world and one key reason for this interest is the assumption that organic food consumption is beneficial to public health. The present paper focuses on the background of organic agriculture, important public health related compounds from crop food and variations in the amount of health related compounds in crops. In addition, influence of organic farming on health related compounds, on pesticide residues and heavy metals in crops, and relations between organic food and health biomarkers as well as in vitro studies are also the focus of the present paper. Nutritionally beneficial compounds of highest relevance for public health were micronutrients, especially Fe and Zn, and bioactive compounds such as carotenoids (including pro-vitamin A compounds), tocopherols (including vitamin E) and phenolic compounds. Extremely large variations in the contents of these compounds were seen, depending on genotype, climate, environment, farming conditions, harvest time, and part of the crop. Highest amounts seen were related to the choice of genotype and were also increased by genetic modification of the crop. Organic cultivation did not influence the content of most of the nutritional beneficial compounds, except the phenolic compounds that were increased with the amounts of pathogens. However, higher amounts of pesticide residues and in many cases also of heavy metals were seen in the conventionally produced crops compared to the organic ones. Animal studies as well as in vitro studies showed a clear indication of a beneficial effect of organic food/extracts as compared to conventional ones. Thus, consumption of organic food seems to be positive from a public health point of view, although the reasons are unclear, and synergistic effects between various constituents within the food are likely.
全世界对用于粮食生产的有机农业的兴趣日益浓厚，这种兴趣的一个关键原因是人们认为食用有机食品有益于公众健康。本文重点关注有机农业的背景、作物食品中与公众健康相关的重要化合物以及作物中与健康相关化合物含量的变化。此外，有机耕作对作物中与健康相关化合物、农药残留和重金属的影响，以及有机食品与健康生物标志物之间的关系以及体外研究也是本文的重点。对公众健康最具相关性的营养有益化合物是微量营养素，尤其是铁和锌，以及生物活性化合物，如类胡萝卜素（包括维生素A原化合物）、生育酚（包括维生素E）和酚类化合物。这些化合物的含量存在极大差异，这取决于基因型、气候、环境、耕作条件、收获时间和作物部位。所观察到的最高含量与基因型的选择有关，并且通过对作物进行基因改造也会增加。除了酚类化合物的含量会随着病原体数量的增加而增加外，有机种植并未影响大多数营养有益化合物的含量。然而，与有机作物相比，传统生产的作物中农药残留量更高，而且在许多情况下重金属含量也更高。动物研究以及体外研究表明，与传统食品相比，有机食品/提取物具有明显的有益效果。因此，从公众健康的角度来看，食用有机食品似乎是积极的，尽管原因尚不清楚，而且食品中各种成分之间可能存在协同作用。
