Enhanced Food Quality: Effects of Composts on the Quality of Plant Foods

Abstract

The effects of composts prepared from kitchen and yard wastes and farm yard manures were compared to mineral fertilizers on a range of quality parameters of cabbage, carrots, potato and tomato. Parameters evaluated were desirable versus undesirable nutrients in vegetables, storage quality as determined both by storage testing and enzyme assays and sensory quality. As a general trend, composts positively affected food quality, improved storage performance and yielded a somewhat superior sensory quality of tomatoes in particular. Composts significantly reduced nitrates and improved the nitrate to vitamin C ratio of vegetables. Vegetable yields for compost treatments were lower during the first two years but did not differ significantly after the third application.