USE OF A RAT MODEL TO ELUDICATE IMPACT OF ORGANIC FOOD ON HEALTH

Summary

Ingredients (potatoes, carrots, peas, green kale, apples, and rapeseed oil) were grown according to three different cultivation systems (“Organic”, low input of fertilizer without pesticides; “Minimally fertil-ised”, low input of fertilizer and high input of pesti-cides, “Conventional”, high input of fertilizer and high input of pesticides). Three iso-energetic and iso-nitrogeneous diets were composed of equal propor-tions of the ingredients originating from each of the cultivation systems, and the diets were investigated with respect to several physiological responses and biomarkers of health using a rat model. In addition, the diets were tested in a food preference test using the same type of rats, but another generation. In both experiments, the diets were optimized according to the nutritional requirements of reproducing rats, except for a high content of fat. Most of the measured variables (biomarkers of health) showed no differ-ences between the experimental diets, however, some differences between dietary treatments were obtained, which were in favour of the “organic” diet contrasted with the “conventional” diet. The prefer-ence test showed a significant interaction between diet choice and mother’s diet. However, the results obtained from the present study cannot be extrapo-lated to all organic and conventional cropping sys-tems, mainly because crops were grown only in one replication. Thus, it is of outmost importance that future investigations on the effect of organic food in relation to human health and well-being should be based on well-defined and controlled food produce system with replications