TITLE:
Organic Vegetables Quality Arising from the Brazilian Family-Run Farm
AUTHORS:
Thadia Turon Costa da Silva, Verona Borges Ferreira, Silvia Magalhães Couto, Armando Ubirajara Oliveira Sabaa Srur
KEYWORDS:
Organic Food, Vegetables, Pesticide, Antioxidant Capacity, Food Composition
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.5 No.15,
August
27,
2014
ABSTRACT: The present study
has its aim to evaluate the different dimensions of organic vegetables quality
from the Brazilian family-run farm, especially the evaluation of composition, antioxidant
activity, microbiological characteristics and pesticide residues. There were
evaluated carrot, broccoli, kale and white cabbage grown by organic farmers in
the highlander region of Rio de Janeiro state. There were determined humidity, lipids
grade, total protein content, mineral residues (ashes), soluble and insoluble
fibers, soluble solids, total acidity, pH, and pesticide residues. The antioxidant
activity was determined using DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) free radical
removal. Among the analyzed vegetables, the effectiveness of the antioxidant
capacity was obtained, in decreasing order, by broccoli, kale, white cabbage and
carrot. According to the microbiological parameter, evaluated vegetables have
shown satisfactory sanitary quality. Pesticide residues were not found above
the detection limit for both authorized and unauthorized analyzed crops.