5400: Mikrobiologie und Qualitätserfassungsmethoden [Microbiology and methods of food quality assessment]

{PROJECT} Organic food quality: Mikrobiologie und Qualitätserfassungsmethoden [Microbiology and methods of food quality assessment]. Runs 01 May 2003 - 31 May 2006. Project leader(s): Wyss, Gabriela and Granado, José, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), CH-5070 Frick. More information online at <http://www.fibl.org/forschung/lebensmittelqualitaet/bioprodukte/methoden-qualitaet.php>.

Summary

State of the Art:
For the evaluation of food quality standard and holistic methods are used in organic food research. Holistic methods have a high capacity (even higher than standard methods!) to distinguish between organic and conventional food but need further development and validation for routine application in food quality assessment.
Currently, we are testing and validating biophysical methods, such as bio-photone emission and Kirlian photography (Gas Discharge Visualization) in order to evaluate the quality of fresh organic produce (e.g. apples, carrots, cabbage).
A second project is dedicated to food microbiology and aims at the characterisation of the microflora (epiphytes and endophytes) of organic and conventional produce with main focus on apples. Therefore, molecular biological tools (PCR and DNA fingerprint techniques) will be used in combination with classical microbiological methods. The microbial flora associated with apples is largely undiscovered and may be regarded as a “black-box” with unknown effects on food quality and human health.
Definition of the problem:
Besides high standard quality (e.g. taste, nutritional value, safety) consumers also profit from nutritional benefits of organic products because of generally lower levels of undesirable ingredients (e.g. nitrate) and pesticides compared to conventional food. However, further research on food quality is needed in order to evaluate potential health benefits from organic food consumption.
Project aims including target group:
1.Establishment of one or two holistic methods for food quality research at FiBL
2.Basic research on food quality and microbiology
3.Characterisation of the microflora of organic and non-organic apples: Find main differences between farming systems and define possible effects on food quality and human health.
4.Target groups: producers, retailers, wholesalers, consumers
Methodology:
Farm survey:
- Crops (carrots, cabbage, apples) are obtained from organic and non-organic farms, paired for location, climate, crop variety and soil type. All orchards are located in Switzerland.
Quality assessment:
- Standard analysis: dry matter, vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, sugar, acids, nitrate, pesticide residues
- Holistic methods: Bio-photone emission, Kirlian Photography, sensorial tests
- Microbiological methods: isolation, cultivation and identification of microorganisms on apples (based on morphology and ITS-DNA-sequence analysis)

Additional Summary

Involved organisations, project partners:
-Agroscope FAW Wädenswil, Wädenswil, Switzerland
-Deutsches Bundesprogramm für Oekologischen Landbau zur Evaluation alternativer Qualitätserfassungsmethoden, Bonn, Germany

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