Quality of Organic vs. Conventional Food and Effects on Health

This report analyses the nutritional quality of organic and conventional food as well as the health effects of pesticide residues, nitrates, mycotoxins and artificial additives and gives an overview of animal and human experiments

Improving the food sovereignty in Africa – an Activity Theory approach

This article presents a new approach to the problem of food sovereignty in Africa using an Activity Theory approach. Undernourishment in Africa is big reaching 232.5 million citizens in 2015. Sufficient food sovereignty can’t be reached because of the weak food-producing abilities in Africa. Smallholder sector can’t compete with highly subsidized Northern farmers. Present intensive agriculture is causing environmental pollution and occupational hazards for the workers. Organic agriculture brings benefits - more nutritious diet, job creation and reduced health risk caused by pesticides. Small holder family farmers could double their harvest in a decade if converting to more agro-ecological production like in organic agriculture. There is an urgent need for the governmental interventions impeding selling or renting of land and natural resources to foreign countries and companies. The change of legislation is necessary to increase the private land owning of smallholders. More sustainable trade policy should be introduced to diminish the excessive export of food. Education of the African citizens is necessary to reduce the food wastes and to boost the fairness and sustainability in the food chains including holistic organic system which is actively contributing to all the 17 the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs)

The content of bioactive compounds in rat experimental diets based on organic, low-input and conventional plant materials

Rat feed based on raw plant materials was produced according to the nutritional recommendations for rat feeding trials. Rat feeds produced from crops grown under 4 different production systems were used: (a) organic, (b) conventional, (c) low input 1 (organic plant protection was used in combination with mineral fertilizers) and (d) low input 2 (conventional pest management and only organic fertilizers were used). The results showed that rat feeds prepared from the organically produced plants contained more total polyphenols and the nutritionally desirable, bioactive compound lutein. The main objective of analyzing bioactive compounds in the rat feed is to determine whether the differences in composition of feed materials from different production systems could explain any measured differences in impact on the health status of rats

The effect of short term feeding with organic and conventional diets on selected immune parameters in rat

There is currently no evidence for beneficial health impacts being associated with the consumption of organic rather than conventional foods. This preliminary study was therefore aimed at using haematological parameters, white blood cell (WBC) number and splenocyte proliferation as sensitive assays to evaluate influence of the organic, low input and conventional components in the diet on rats’ immune system function. The results of a short term feeding trial with two rat generations indicates a potential effect on immune system function, which has to be confirmed by longer-term exposure studies

Quality of organic vs. conventional food and effects on health : report

ReportOrganic methods in farming are considered as environment friendly, mainly due to a fundamental principle of harmonious cooperation with nature and the lack of chemization. There is already a lot of evidence that the condition of the environment, soil and groundwater improves as a result of organic farming (Haas et al., 2000); it is also considered to improve crop quality. The regulations which specify organic plant and animal production are very strict, and adhering to them should result in high product quality. A similar situation concerns organic food processing. Although currently conventional processing allows several hundreds of different types of food additives (colourings, fixing agents, improvers, etc.), organic processing allows only several dozen such additives, mainly natural substances. This creates challenges for organic food processors as they have to preserve product durability without the use of chemical agents. However, this is fundamentally important for consumers who are increasingly searching for healthy food

Organic Food Claims in Europe

Better regulatory guidelines, improved testing methods, and additional research into product quality criteria are needed to further develop the European organic food market

The importance of factors affecting the entry of entrepreneurial subjects to organic farming in the Czech Republic

The aim of the article is to identify the key factors influencing the entry of entrepreneurial subjects into the sphere of organic farming in the Czech Republic. Primary data for the research was obtained from a questionnaire survey carried out in 2016 through an internal communication system of the PRO BIO Association, comprising 481 operators in the field of organic farming in the Czech Republic. The research questions mainly concerned the reason for entering the sphere of organic farming, and what influenced this decision, the motivation of entrepreneurs to stay in organic farming and what could possibly be the reason for their departure from this sector of business. Another part of the research questions related to the knowledge about organic farming in the establishment of their business. a combination of factors that are important in deciding on entry into the industry and subsequent stay was found.O

Dendrimer platforms for targeted doxorubicin delivery : physicochemical properties in context of biological responses

The unique structure of G4.0 PAMAM dendrimers allows a drug to be enclosed in internal spaces or immobilized on the surface. In the conducted research, the conditions for the formation of the active G4.0 PAMAM complex with doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) were optimized. The physicochemical properties of the system were monitored using dynamic light scattering (DLS), circular dichroism (CD), and fluorescence spectroscopy. The Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation Monitoring (QCM-D) method was chosen to determine the preferential conditions for the complex formation. The highest binding efficiency of the drug to the cationic dendrimer was observed under basic conditions when the DOX molecule was deprotonated. The decrease in the zeta potential of the complex confirms that DOX immobilizes through electrostatic interaction with the carrier’s surface amine groups. The binding constants were determined from the fluorescence quenching of the DOX molecule in the presence of G4.0 PAMAM. The two-fold way of binding doxorubicin in the structure of dendrimers was visible in the Isothermal calorimetry (ITC) isotherm. Fluorescence spectra and release curves identified the reversible binding of DOX to the nanocarrier. Among the selected cancer cells, the most promising anticancer activity of the G4.0-DOX complex was observed in A375 malignant melanoma cells. Moreover, the preferred intracellular location of the complexes concerning the free drug was found, which is essential from a therapeutic point of view

The knowledge transfer from science to practice – a survey with EU researchers

Group members came from 12 European countries, six from new (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia) and six from old EU member states (Germany, Spain, Finland, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal). The aim of the work was to analyze the role of the scientists in a dialogue between them and the practitioners within the organic production sector. Another important aim was to find the best practice models of such dialogue as the examples to be followed by others. In order to reach this aim the survey with the scientists has been conducted by all project partners; every partner has conducted the survey with 10 selected scientists from own country. Only the scientists possessing PhD level and actively working in the organic sector could be selected. Key areas of the questionnaire were directed to the (A) person (gender, age, years of activity in teaching and/or researching), (B) number of projects, papers, trainings and interviews, (C) Examples of best practice models, (D) Estimations of potential collaboration and dialog between scientists and stakeholders, (E) Estimations about the success of personal activities with regard to the improvement of the four fields (farming, processing, trading & marketing), (F) Estimates of the improvement of communication and knowledge transfer from science to practice, (G) Estimates of potential threats for good communication and knowledge transfer among scientists and practitioners. Interviewees were finally asked for general remarks and comments. The results indicate that there is not a big difference between the scientists from the old EU member states and new EU member states in most of the analyzed areas. The main difference is that the scientists from the new EU member states provide more training sessions for practitioners outside their institutions compared to the researchers from the old EU member states. The results reveal also a relatively low level of the researchers’ activity in conducting the implementation projects and writing the popular papers, both in the old and new EU member states