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J. Agric. Food Chem. 2007, 55, 4474−4480
Organic vs Conventionally Grown Rio Red Whole Grapefruit and Juice: Comparison of Production Inputs, Market Quality, Consumer Acceptance, and Human Health-Bioactive Compounds GENE E. LESTER* Kika de la Garza Subtropical Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Weslaco, Texas 78596
JOHN A. MANTHEY
AND
BEÄ LA S. BUSLIG†
Citrus & Subtropical Products Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Winter Haven, Florida 33881
Most claims that organic produce is better tasting and more nutritious than nonorganic (conventional) produce are largely unsubstantiated. This is due mainly to a lack of rigor in research studies matching common production variables of both production systems, such as microclimate, soil type, fertilizer elemental concentration, previous crop, irrigation source and application, plant age, and cultivar. The aforementioned production variables common to both production systems were matched for comparison of Texas commercially grown conventional and certified organic Rio Red red-fruited grapefruit. Whole grapefruits from each production system were harvested between 800 and 1000 h at commercial early (November), mid- (January), and late season (March) harvest periods for three consecutive years. Within each harvest season, conventional and organic whole fruits were compared for marketable qualities (fruit weight, specific gravity, peel thickness, and peel color), and juices were compared for marketable qualities (specific gravity, % juice, and color), human health-bioactive compounds (minerals, ascorbic acid, lycopene, sugars, pectin, phenols, and nitrates), and consumer taste intensity and overall acceptance. Conventional fruit was better colored and higher in lycopene, and the juice was less tart, lower in the bitter principle naringin, and better accepted by the consumer panel than the organic fruit. Organic fruit had a commercially preferred thinner peel, and the juice was higher in ascorbic acid and sugars and lower in nitrate and the drug interactive furanocoumarins. KEYWORDS: Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi); ascorbic acid; citric acid; furanocoumarins; lycopene; naringin; nitrate; sugars; seasonal influence; consumer acceptance
INTRODUCTION
It has been established that “U.S. producers are turning to organic farming systems as a potential way to lower input costs, decrease reliance on nonrenewable resources, capture high-value markets at premium prices, and boost farm income” (1). Organic production agriculture is characterized by inputs of biologically (nonsynthetic) based fertilizers and pest management practices that are sustainable (2). Much of the U.S. organic farm sector expansion has occurred since the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s establishment of uniform organic standards in 2000. Currently, 2% of U.S. fruit crop acreages and 4% of U.S. vegetable crop acreages are certified organic (1). Organic fresh * To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: 956-447-6322. Fax: 956-447-6345. E-mail:
[email protected]. † Current address: Florida Department of Citrus, Lake Alfred, Florida 33850.
fruits and vegetables vs grains, grain byproducts, herbs, nuts, and animal products have been the top-selling category since the retail of organic products started over three decades ago, accounting for 43% of all U.S. organic food sales in 2002. Much of the retail demand for organic produce, which has been increasing 20-25% per annum (1), is due to consumer’s perceptions of the dangers of pesticide residues (3) and that organic produce is better tasting and more nutritious (4-9). A review of claims that organic produce tastes better and is more nutritious than nonorganic (conventional) produce found these claims to be largely unfounded (10). The review concludes that greater scientific rigor in conventional vs organic produce production studies is needed if quality differences are to be resolved (10). Much of the current literature demonstrates a lack of matched “common production/harvest variables” such as soil type, previous crop, irrigation source method and quality, plant
10.1021/jf070901s This article not subject to U.S. Copyright. Published 2007 by the American Chemical Society Published on Web 05/03/2007
J. Agric. Food Chem., Vol. 55, No. 11, 2007
Organic vs Conventionally Grown Rio Red Grapefruit
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Table 1. Irrigation Source, Continuous Cropping, and Soil Conditions of Conventionally vs Organically Grown Rio Red Grapefruit Orchards soil texture (%)
kg/ha
production system
depth (cm)
sand
silt
clay
pH
NO3−N
P
K
Ca
Mg
conventional
0−30 30−60 60−90 90−120 0−30 30−60 60−90 90−120
64.4 66.4 64.4 62.4 64.4 66.4 61.4 60.4
21.2 19.2 23.2 27.2 21.2 19.2 24.2 27.2
14.4 14.4 12.4 10.4 14.4 14.4 14.4 12.4
6.9 7.3 7.6 7.7 7.2 7.3 7.8 8.0
29 ± 3a 22 ± 4 24 ± 3 26 ± 2 30 ± 5 21 ± 6 24 ± 2 24 ± 1
20 ± 8 15 ± 8 11 ± 5 6±4 27 ± 6 7±6 6±2 3±1
54 ± 15 61 ± 19 58 ± 8 55 ± 6 90 ± 20 90 ± 25 67 ± 9 51 ± 2
73 ± 14 81 ± 10 135 ± 46 133 ± 36 53 ± 17 65 ± 31 99 ± 30 114 ± 15
32 ± 10 44 ± 14 42 ± 14 45 ± 11 22 ± 5 20 ± 10 26 ± 12 25 ± 11
organic
a
continuous cropping (years)
previous crop
irrigation source
14
grapefruit
Rio Grande
16
citrus
Rio Grande
Means for each element, within a production system and soil depth, are from three samplings and averaged from three consecutive years ± SD (n ) 9).
age, cultivar, fertilizer timing and elemental concentration, harvested product size, harvest time and method, and postharvest handling practices. Moreover, no organic vs conventional production system comparison study has examined the effect of extended harvest season, such as the multiple harvests of tree fruit like citrus, on whole fruit and juice marketability and on juice quality with a focus on human health-bioactive compounds and consumer acceptance. Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf.) juice is known for containing drug interactive compounds, mainly the furanocoumarins (11). The concentration of these compounds in grapefruit juice is affected by production inputs (12), which is the case for many human health-bioactive compounds in fruits and vegetables (13). Eighty percent of all grapefruit produced in the United States is grown in Florida and Texas with 85% of the grapefruit grown as pink or red varieties (14). In Texas, currently 2% of the grapefruit production is grown organically with nearly all of the fruit being Rio Red (D. Holbrook, organic grapefruit grower, personal communication). In this study, we utilized Texas commercial conventional and certified organic grown Rio Red grapefruit from orchards that were matched for the aforementioned common production variables. This will provide a rigorous comparison of conventional vs organic production of whole fruit and juice marketability and of juice quality, including the comparative levels of human health-bioactive compounds and consumer acceptance. MATERIALS AND METHODS Orchards. Commercial conventional and certified organic Rio Red grapefruit (C. paradisi Macf.) production orchards located in South Texas (latitude 26° 27′ N, longitude 98° 19′ W, lat., elevation 60 m) were 76.3 m apart. Soil conditions (percent sand, silt, and clay and major mineral concentrations), cropping history, and irrigation source are defined in Table 1. Production systems’ fertilizer, weed control, and insecticide usages, rates, and numbers of applications are defined in Table 2. Fruit. Grapefruit, within a production orchard and harvest season, were selected for uniform color, firmness, roundness, and minimal defects and harvested between 800 and 1000 h from inside midcanopy at all cardinal points. Harvests were November 1 (early season), January 2 (midseason), and March 1 (late season) for three consecutive seasons starting in November 2003 and ending in March 2006. A randomly selected set of 10 trees, from each production system, were resampled each harvest. For each harvest season, 40 fruits (four fruits from each tree) from each orchard were immediately transported to the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture Research Center in Weslaco, Texas. Ten fruits from within a production system orchard, per harvest season, per year, were reselected for uniform size (96.8104.8 mm diameter), washed in reverse osmosis H2O, and immediately processed.
Table 2. Fertilizer, Weed, and Insect Control Inputs of Conventionally vs Organically Grown Rio Red Grapefruit Orchards production system
input
conventional fertilizer insect control
weed control organic
a
description
rate
applications
9 N, 1.8 P, 11 K, 21 S 17 N, 2.2 P, 0 K, 19 S 15 N, 4.4 P, 54.2 K Agrimek citrus oil Enable Lorsban Vendex R-56 Active Plus Direx Semazine
672 kg ha-1 392 kg ha-1 9.4 L ha-1 0.7 kg ha-1 46.8 L ha-1 0.6 kg ha-1 4.7 L ha-1 2.2 kg ha-1 1.8 L ha-1 9.4 L ha-1 4.5 kg ha-1 3.4 kg ha-1
1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2
3360 kg ha-1 9.4 L ha-1 560 kg ha-1
2 5 1
4.7 L ha-1 4.7 L ha-1
5 5 2
fertilizer compost 2 N, 0.6 P, 1.2 K fish emulsion 6 N, 2 P, 0 K trace mineralsa 50 Ca, 0.5 Mg, 50 S, 0.02 B, 0.4 Fe insect control flowable sulfur compost tea weed control cultivation
Minor elements are expressed as kg/kg.
Color Measurements. A CR-200 chromameter from Minolta Corp. (Ramsey, NJ) calibrated using a clean barium sulfate plate (standard white) was used to quantify whole fruit exterior (peel) and cut-fruit interior tissue color characteristics. Color measurements of the wholefruit peel were taken at three equidistant locations around the fruit equator. Interior fruit measurements were taken at three equidistant locations around the cut equatorial plane. The color was expressed in the lightness, chroma, and hue angle mode: lightness or darkness (+100 ) white, -100 ) black), chroma (+ ) color intensity), and hue° or color (0° ) red, 90° ) yellow, 180° ) green, and 270° ) blue). Juice Extraction. Cut fruits were juiced using a Chef’s Juicer from Metrokane (New York, NY). Consumer Acceptability Determination. Grapefruits were juiced 1 day prior to consumer evaluation, held at 4 °C under aerobic conditions, and allowed to reach room temperature with stirring prior to sampling. Juice tartness, sweetness intensity, and overall acceptability were determined at individual stations by an untrained 75 member panel. Each station displayed 25 mL of juice in red-nontranslucent 300 mL disposable plastic cups following the fruit sensory procedure of Saftner et al. (15). Briefly, panelists having a preference for grapefruit juice were randomly selected from the local Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, research community. Separate 10 cm unstructured hedonic line scales were used to rate the intensity of tartness and sweetness and the acceptability of overall quality. Panelists were told to cleanse their palates with a drink of room temperature reverse osmosis water before each sample and were then given verbal instructions and paper ballots that had three scales anchored either not
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tart or not sweet, extremely tart or extremely sweet, or extremely dislike or extremely like. Mineral Analyses. Soil texture and soil and juice mineral analyses were determined by a local commercial certified plant and soil testing laboratory. The soil texture was determined gravimetrically. Minerals were extracted from 2 g of lyophilized soil or 10 g of evaporated juice by ashing (3 h at 550 °C) in acid-washed porcelain crucibles. The cooled ash was dissolved in 2 mL of 1.0 M HCL, filtered (Whatman #1, Maidstone, United Kingdom), and brought up to 100 mL with doubledistilled water. Minerals were calibrated against known standards using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Peel Thickness. Peel epidermis including adjacent albido tissues were measured for thickness using a sliding caliper from MG Tool Co. (New York, NY) Juice Phenols. The flavonoids and furanocoumarins representing the predominant phenols in grapefruit were extracted and quantified from 10 mL of juice using the following procedures (16-18). Furanocoumarins were quantitatively extracted into ethyl acetate. The ethyl acetate was subsequently evaporated, and the dried residue (
