Nitrate content antioxidant and microbial safety of organic, pesticide free and conventional vegetables in Nakhon Pathom Province, Thailand

Abstract

Presently, Thai has faced the health problems, e.g., cancer and food contamination. This has induced Thai turns to consume healthy foods, especially, organic natural products. However, the major problem of consumer is lack of knowledge on the nutrition and microbiology of organic natural products, e.g., fresh organic vegetables. The knowledge in Nakhon Pathom has been not yet investigated by any study before. The research aims to investigate the antioxidant, nitrate and food safety among 3 types of vegetables, e.g., (a) organic-, (b) pesticide free- and (c) conventional vegetables which are sale on markets in Muang, Nakhon Pathom. The investigation collected the different 3 types of vegetable samples in the markets in Muang, Nakhon Pathom during October 2010 till September 2011. The sampling collected 6 vegetables, namely, (a) pumpkin, (b) morning glory, (c) kale, (d) cowpea, (e) cabbage and (f) tomato. Each vegetable composed of 3 types, namely, organic, pesticide free- and conventional vegetables. In total, the investigation collected 18 samples. The study induced the analysis on vitamin c, beta-carotene, phenolic, nitrate, DPPH and microorganism safety. The results disclosed that the organic vegetable contained almost of all analyzed parameters significantly more than pesticide free and conventional vegetable samples. Meanwhile, the organic and pesticide free vegetable showed they are more micro-safety rather than conventional one.