Stable isotopes as a predictor for organic or conventional classification of berries and vegetables
Xia Zhu-Barker, Michael Liou, Diana Zapata, Jingyi Huang, William R. Horwath, Taimoor Hassan Farooq, Taimoor Hassan Farooq, Taimoor Hassan Farooq
TL;DR
This paper explores using stable isotopes to determine if crops are grown organically or conventionally.
Contribution
The study identifies δ15N as a potential screening tool for verifying organic crop authenticity.
Findings
δ15N content significantly differs between organic and conventional crops.
A δ15N threshold can distinguish organic from conventional raspberries and strawberries.
The dataset includes 791 samples across seven crops and multiple production systems.
Abstract
Organic agriculture is expanding worldwide, driven by expectations of improving food quality and soil health. However, while organic certification by regulatory bodies such as the United States Department of Agriculture and the European Union confirms compliance with organic standards that prohibit synthetic chemical inputs, there is limited oversight to verify that organic practices, such as the use of authentic organic fertilizer sources, are consistently applied at the field level. This study investigated the elemental content of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) and their stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) in seven different crops grown under organic or conventional practices to assess their applicability as a screening tool to verify the authenticity of organic labeled produce. Holm corrected Welch t-tests and a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) were used to assess the potential of…
Click any figure to enlarge with its caption.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10
Figure 11
Figure 12
Figure 13
Figure 14
Figure 15
Figure 16
Figure 17
Figure 18
Figure 19
Figure 20
Figure 21Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsOrganic Food and Agriculture · Isotope Analysis in Ecology · Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact