organic or not?

Scientific American reports on a study by the University of East Anglia in Norwich shows how based on the nitrogen levels in the veg studied could give an indication of the true organic nature. if it has too much nitrogen it (probably) is not that organic. it varies for each veg but in time may be the only scientific test to be able between organic and non organic.


The research team, led by Kelly, used a standard technique, employed since the 1970s, involving gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to determine nitrogen 15 levels in different samples of organic and conventionally grown tomatoes, lettuce and carrots. The results show a fairly clear difference in nitrogen isotope values between organic and nonorganic tomatoes—the average value was 8.2 percent higher for the organic version. The other two vegetables showed less distinct differences, with organic lettuce being only a few percentage points higher than regular lettuce and the two varieties of carrots being largely indistinguishable.