Sensory Difference of Bio-Dynamically, Organically and Conventionally Produced Wheat from the DOK Long-Term Field Trial

Summary

There is a need of scientific evidence on the differentiation of organic from conventional produce concerning health, nutrition and sensory related qualities (Leifert et al., 2007). Analysis of wheat from the DOK long-term system comparison trial near Basel, Switzerland (Mäder et al., 2002) showed that organic wheat differed in contents of 16 “diagnostic” proteins from conventional wheat (Zörb et al., 2009a), had higher concentrations of K+ and Mg2+ cations and lower concentrations of six amino acids, and a different seed ripening metabolism (Zörb et al., 2009b). In a previous sensory test with cooked porridge of wheat (cv. Tamaro) from the DOK trial (harvest 1999), the biodynamic samples had been preferred (Arncken et al., 2007). In the present work we aimed to corroborate these results with dry samples of three harvest years.