The metabolomic fingerprint and microbiological quality of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in different organic growing systems "TILMAN-ORG Session"

Summary

In organic agriculture, soil fertility is essential for harvesting high quality crop yields. Plant nutrient cycles should be kept short and as closed as possible. Therefore, it is important to have sustainable growing systems that have rotations with appropriate crops and cover crops. In organic farming green manures and cattle manure are also used to ensure fertile and biologically active soil and to enhance biodiversity. Green manures offer supporting services, such as nutrient cycling, promotion of beneficial insects for pest control and soil formation. Also the catch crops on winter period are essential to reduce nutrient leaching (Stark and Porter, 2005).
Growing system does not only influence the soil fertility, but through that also the quality parameters of crops (Olesen et al, 2009; Mäder et al, 2002). In recent years food metabolomics has been used as a novel method for `fingerprinting` or for ´profiling´ food samples (Hajšlova et al, 2011). `Fingerprinting` of food samples enables to perform comparative analyses aimed at detection of differences. ´Profiling´ is used for identification individual, differential sample components (both primary and secondary metabolites). Production system and interaction among the microbial population are important factors that also affect food safety and shelf life (Guerzoni et al., 1996). Among the microorganisms, some moulds, yeasts, bacteria, and viruses have both desirable and undesirable roles in our food. Most bacteria, moulds, and yeasts, because of their ability to grow in foods, can potentially cause food spoilage, however mere microbial presence does not reduce the quality of food, except in the case of some pathogens (Ray, 2005).
The aim of present study was to investigate the influence of green manures as intercrops and these combined with composted cattle manure on microbiological quality and metabolomic fingerprinting of winter wheat in a crop rotation experiment in three organic systems at the Estonian University of Life Sciences in 2012.