Organically vs Conventionally Grown Winter Wheat:
Effects on Grain Yield, Technological Quality,
and on Phenolic Composition and Antioxidant
Properties of Bran and Refined Flour

This section is compiled by Frank M. Painter, D.C.
Send all comments or additions to:    Frankp@chiro.org

FROM:   Food Chem. 2015 (May 15);   175:   445–451

Marco Mazzoncinia, Daniele Antichia, Nicola Silvestrib,
Giulia Ciantellib, Cristina Sgherrib

Centre for Agro-Environmental Research "Enrico Avanzi" -
University of Pisa,
Via Vecchia di Marina 6, 56122
San Piero a Grado (Pisa), Italy.
marco.mazzoncini@unipi.it

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Since organic food is widely assumed to have a better nutritional quality than conventional food, our aim was to study the effects of organic vs conventional cropping systems on yield and the phenolic composition of winter wheat cv. 'Bologna'. Although organic wheat yielded less than conventional wheat, mainly due to the nitrogen shortage, and its bread-making quality was lower, the cultivation system did not affect the total amounts of phenolics and phenolic acids.

Of the eight phenolic acids identified, only ferulic acid was influenced by the cultivation system. Phenolic composition and quantity were significantly affected by the milling fraction (bran or white flour): phenolics were more concentrated in the bran, which showed the highest antioxidant power. Under the conditions adopted in this study, an organic cropping system can maintain or even increase the health properties of the wheat milled products, provided a reduction in grain yield is accepted.

KEYWORDS: Antioxidant activity; Bran; DPPH and ABTS assays; Flour; Organic farming; Phenolic acids; Total phenolics; Winter wheat

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