Effects of cultivation systems on resilience of supermarket cucumber samples to the so-called stress storage test.
Although the market for organic food is expanding, assessing their product quality remains a challenge. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the stress storage test in differentiating conventionally, organically and biodynamically grown cucumbers, bought in local supermarkets. In this test, cucumbers are cut into several slices, put together again and foiled, followed by incubation in 23.5°C for two weeks. The obtained samples are then evaluated for antimicrobial and colour retaining properties, and a slice healing test is performed.
The study was conducted in three different laboratories, in Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Mean values of the different evaluated parameters of the 3x8 experiments appeared to be highest for the biodynamically grown cucumbers and lowest for the conventionally grown ones. The biodynamic cucumbers showed best storage properties in 58 to 71% of the experiments, while organically grown and conventional samples scored best in 25 to 38% and 4 to 8% respectively.
The significantly better storage properties of the biodynamic cucumbers compared to organically grown cucumbers could potentially be attributed to their modulating effect on the plant microbiome and their elevated content of secondary plant compounds, like antioxidants, as a consequence of the use of biodynamic preparations. Subsequent microbiome and secondary plant compounds studies are needed to confirm this.
Despite the suboptimal samples, because of different transport and storage conditions of the various samples prior to purchase, this study has been able to show significantly best scores for biodynamic cucumbers in the majority of experiments. This might be a confirmation for consumers who deliberately choose these products because of their supposed greater vitality and sustainability.
(Source: Marjolein Doesburg-van Kleffens, Jens-Otto Andersen, Carsten Gründemann, Jürgen Fritz, Effects of cultivation systems on the antimicrobial, colour retainment and slice healing properties of consumer ready market samples of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), Applied Food Research, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2025.
