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Handbook of Food Chemistry pp 555–584Cite as

Chemical Composition of Organic Food Products

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Abstract

Organic food market is steady increasing worldwide. Consumers purchase organic food because they believed they are naturally produced, safe, healthy, and of higher quality. Organic agriculture methods are based on overall and specific principles that effectively can affect the chemical composition of the organic foods: the prohibition of the use of mineral fertilizers and synthetic pesticides. Organic livestock is an extensive production method based on pasture- and forage-based feeds.

In this chapter, the effects of the methods used in organic agriculture on various classes of chemical compounds in plant and animal origin food will be examined and illustrated through examples. Recent advances in analytical methods and their potential in discriminating between organic and nonorganic food will be also presented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Research on Food and Nutrition (CRA-NUT), Agricultural Research Council (CRA), Via Ardeatina, 546-00178, Rome, Italy

    Flavio Paoletti

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  1. Flavio Paoletti
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Correspondence to Flavio Paoletti .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Food and Nutritional Sciences Program,School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China

    Peter Chi Keung Cheung

  2. Dairy Chemistry Department, Sheth M.C. College of Dairy Science, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat, India

    Bhavbhuti M. Mehta

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Paoletti, F. (2015). Chemical Composition of Organic Food Products. In: Cheung, P., Mehta, B. (eds) Handbook of Food Chemistry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36605-5_23

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