Comparison of the impact of organic and conventional agricultural practices on the quality and antioxidant activity of Welsh onion

摘要

Consumers are aware of their health, and more and more conscious of environmental conditions. There is an increasing demand for agri-foods obtained from organic agricultural practices. The present study aimed to compare the quality characteristics and antioxidant activities of organically and conventionally grown Welsh onion [Allium fistulosum L.). The weight, length, diameter, moisture contents, and color (Hunter L, a, b) were measured as quality characteristics. In addition, total phenols, total flavonoids, and 2,2-diphenyI-l-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical-scavenging activities were analyzed for the antioxidant activities of organically and conventionally grown Welsh onions. The weight,length, diameter, and moisture contents were similar between the organically and conventionally grown Welsh onions. The L (lightness) values of the organic Welsh onion were higher than for the conventionally grown onions (p<0.05). The total phenolic contents were 90.77 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) g-* in the organic and 81.10 mg GAE g~(-1) in the conventional Welsh onion. The total flavonoid contents in organically cultivated Welsh onion were significantly higher than in the conventional product (p<0.001). The respective DPPH and ABTS radical-scavenging activities were 4.71 and 18.21% in the organically grown Welsh onion and 4.72 and 18.05% in the conventionally grown Welsh onion. Therefore, organically grown Welsh onion was found to have better compositional quality than conventionally grown product.