Organic wheat preferred

There’s a body of anecdotal opinion to suggest organic foods taste superior to conventionally grown alternatives. Unfortunately, the taste experiments conducted with human subjects have generally failed to provide conclusive evidence in favour of organically grown food. Scientists puzzle over this since there is sufficient evidence to confirm that many varieties of fresh organic produce contain higher quantities of flavour compounds (phytochemicals) compared to the conventional ones. It’s possible that many of the human subjects were less capable of detecting taste differences than researchers had anticipated.

Many species of animal are recognised for their ability to detect subtle differences in taste. In the wild this may be an important survival skill since the taste characteristics of edible plants may vary only slightly from those of toxic species. Rats are particularly good at distinguishing slight variations in taste and smell.

In a recent study led by Paul Mäder from The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in Switzerland, and conducted by a team of Swiss and Austrian scientists, groups of domesticated rats were given the choice of eating biscuits made from either organic or conventionally grown wheat. Despite the fact that both wheats were of identical variety and similar in their baking characteristics, the rats consumed significantly more of the biscuits made from organic wheat. The obvious taste difference for the rats may have been related to the strength of phytochemicals in the organic wheat.

Phytochemicals are now believed to be important nutrients for health and well-being. They are produced by many plant species and will provide some natural protection against microbes and insect pests. It has been suggested that production of phytochemicals may decrease whenever plants are treated with synthetic pesticides. Alternatively, the organically grown plants may work harder to protect themselves with natural defensive substances like phytochemicals.