Comparative Evaluation of Organic and Conventional Vegetables on Physical and Chemical Parameters and Antioxidant Activity | Chapter 13 | Current Trends in Food Science Vol. 1
The objective of this research was to perform a quantitative and comparative analysis of physical and chemical characteristics and antioxidant activity in organic and conventional carrot (Daucus carota), green pepper (Capsicum annuum) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa). Five representative samples of each conventional vegetables, certified organic and non-certified organic vegetables were gotten from farms and supermarkets in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All samples were underwent the following analyzes: reducing sugars, total sugars, ºBrix, vitamin C, density, acidity, antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds content. Data were submitted to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the means compared by Tukey's test at 5% probability. The result shows that the organic carrot showed higher acidity (0.11 g% citric acid) and total sugar (5.68 g%) than those found in standard samples and certified organic ones (p<0.05). Regarding the density analysis and total soluble solids, there w...