Organic strawberries ‘are more nutritious’

LONDON - Scientists have revealed that organic strawberries are both tastier and better for health.

Naturally produced strawberries also have a longer shelf life and a richer, fruitier flavour, according to the researchers.

‘We show that you can have high quality, healthy produce, without resorting to an arsenal of pesticides,” the Daily Mail quoted Dr John Reganold, who led the study at Washington State University in the U.S., as saying.

Researchers analysed the taste, nutrition and quality of three strawberry varieties growing on 13 organic and 13 conventional farms in California, as well as 31 chemical and biological properties of the soil where they were grown.

The organic fruit had ‘ significantly higher’ levels of antioxidants - nutrients that mop up potentially dangerous and cancer-causing ‘free radicals’ in the body.

The researchers found that the soil on the organic farms was healthier and contained more bacteria and insect life.

The report has been published in the journal PLoS One. (ANI)