--Vegetable Mineral Composition Differences--

Hi Ya'll,

Some may find this report interesting?

Variation in Mineral Composition of Vegetables.1
Soil Science Society of America Proceedings 1948, Volume 13. pp. 380-4
The Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wisconsin, 1949.
Important mindfully.org note:
24jan02 - We have replaced the file we incorrectly labeled as "Variations In
Mineral Content in Vegetables: Organically Grown VS Conventional Chemical Input.
Firman E. Baer Report, Rutgers University." It has been in our collection of
files for years, and we apologize for any inconvenience this error has caused.
We recommend a paper by Virginia Worthington MS, ScD, CNS., Nutrition and
Biodynamics: Evidence for the Nutritional Superiority of Organic Crops.
Biodynamics v.224, Jul/Aug99. Also see Is Organically Grown Food More
Nutritious? Virginia Worthington / The Co-op Connection Nov01

Firman E. Bear, Stephen J. Toth, and Arthur L. Prince2


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1 Journal Series paper of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station,
Rutgers University, Department of Soils.
2 Research Specialist and Associate Research Specialists in Soils, respectively.
3 Figures in parenthesis refer to "Literature Cited."


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Introduction

The percentages of ash and of each constituent in the ash of any given species
of plant are known to vary widely. They vary with the variety and with the age
of the plant and the environmental conditions under which it was grown. As Sims
and Volk have pointed out (9)3, such variation is of considerable significance
to animals and man, since these creatures depend upon plants for most of the
mineral matter they require.

Recent studies of plant ash have confirmed Liebig's century-old concept (5) that
"the species of one and the same family will contain the same number of basic
equivalents combined with vegetable acids." This principle would now be stated
as follows:

Under uniform conditions for growth, except for limited variations in the
relative amounts of the several cations in the nutrient media, the sum of the
Ca, Mg K, and Na, expressed in milliequivalents per unit weight of dry matter,
is a constant for any given plant variety.

Recognition that this principle applies in plants was delayed because chemists
have long been reporting analyses of plant ash in terms of percentages of the
constituent elements, rather than as their equivalents. Within recent years,
however, a number of workers have presented their data in equivalent form, and
the principle has been adequately confirmed (2, 6, 7). The highest degree of
constancy is found in the terminal leaves (10).

Although Ca is the dominant cation in the exchange complex of normal
agricultural soils, its rate of movement into the plant is relatively slow in
comparison with that of K. Thus, in an experiment with alfalfa (3), it was found
that, with a Ca-K equivalent ratio of 32:1 in the exchange complex of the soil,
the ratio of these cations in the plants which grew on that soil was only a
little over 3:1. This tendency of plants to take up K is such that much larger
amounts of it are often absorbed from the soil than are required for optimum
crop yields. When this occurs, the absorption of Ca, Mg, and Na is
correspondingly reduced. This may be to the disadvantage of the consuming animal
and to man.

The principle of constancy also appears to apply to the mineral anions in
plants. For example, Nightingale pointed out (8) that application of nitrate
results in the reduction of phosphate uptake in pineapples. When soil fumigants
were employed and the ammonia forms of nitrogen were not changed to nitrate for
a considerable period of time, phosphate absorption was increased.

In a series of alfalfa plants that were grown in our greenhouse under
standardized conditions, except for wide variations in the individual anion
values in the nutrient media, the sums of the N, S, Cl, and P absorbed, per unit
of dry matter, were essentially constant. It should be noted in this connection
that the pH values of the nutrient media were kept uniform. This is important in
both cation and anion studies that have to do with this point.

Percentages of ash and summation values are known to be subject to wide
variations, depending upon the extent to which the dilution factor of
carbohydrate production operates. They tend to be considerably higher in the
irrigated arid and semi-arid regions than in the more humid regions. This is in
conformity with Albrecht's concept of high-carbohydrate versus high
protein-and-mineral vegetation regions of the United States (1).

It is apparent from the foregoing that the mineral cation and anion values in
plants are an expression of the environment in which the plants were grown. The
environmental factors that seem to exert the greatest influence are soil type,
fertilizer practice, and climate.

Wide variation in these three environmental factors is readily found as one
proceeds from south to north and from east to west in the United States. An
opportunity was recently provided4 to obtain samples of vegetables from a line
of states extending northward from Georgia to New York (Long Island) along the
Atlantic Coast and from another line of states that extended as far west as
Colorado. It is the purpose of this paper to present the results of a study of
the mineral composition of the vegetables so selected.


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4 Funds for this project were made available through the courtesy of Readers'
Digest.


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Experimental Work

Samples of cabbage, lettuce, snapbeans, spinach, and tomatoes were obtained from
commercial fields of these crops in Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland,
New Jersey, New York (Long Island), Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Colorado.5 The
total number of samples examined was 204.

The collecting had to be done during the midsummer months, and this made it
impossible to obtain samples of all five crops from all 10 states. Fortunately,
samples of snapbeans and tomatoes were taken from every state. This report,
therefore, deals primarily with the findings on these two crops. Bountiful
snapbeans and Rutgers tomatoes were chosen for collecting and most of the
samples belonged to these two varieties. So far as possible, the cabbage,
lettuce, and spinach samples were confined to the Golden Acre, Grand Rapids, and
Savoy varieties, respectively.

All samples were collected at the stage of growth when they were being harvested
for market. Field collection was followed by as rapid transportation to the
laboratory as possible. Only the edible portions were prepared for analysis, the
outer leaves of cabbage and lettuce being discarded. All samples were rinsed in
cold distilled water. The tomatoes were rubbed also with a clean cloth. The
samples were dried in a hot-air convection oven at temperatures ranging between
70 and 80° C. Samples of the vegetables were wet-ashed with a mixture of nitric
and perchloric acids and made up to volume. Aliquots were then analyzed for the
major nutrient elements by standard procedures, including the use of the flame
photometer for determining Ca, K, and Na. Another sample was dry-ashed at
between 600 and 700oC and analyzed for the minor mineral nutrient elements by
the use of a spectrograph.6


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5 The samples were collected by Dr. Dana G. Coe, whose careful selection of them
constituted a highly important part of this work.
6 Spectrographic analyses were made by Dr. Harry S. Reed, to whom the authors
are very much indebted.
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Characteristics of Soils on Which Vegetables Were Grown

The soils involved in the eastern coastal-plain states were of the Tifton,
Bladen, Orangeburg, Portsmouth, Norfolk, and Sassafras series. These belong to
the podzolic group, including both the red-yellow and the gray-brown zones. They
have all been developed from coastal-plain materials and have been thoroughly
leached, they have relatively low exchange capacities, and they contain only
very limited supplies of mineral nutrients.

The soils involved in the east north-central states were of the Wooster, Miami,
Crosby, Brookston, Clarion, and Webster series. The first four are members
belonging to the gray-brown podzolic group, which have been developed on glacial
drift, some of which was of a calcareous nature. Those of the last two series
are prairie soils, which have been developed from calcareous glacial drift.

The Colorado vegetables were obtained from areas, where the Laurel, Gilchrist,
and Berthan series predominate. These soils belong to the brown and planosol
groups, and are under irrigation farming. They are high in calcium carbonate and
in available mineral nutrients.

Fertilizer Practices in the Areas Involved

As Beeson has pointed out (4), fertilizing and liming practices influence the
mineral composition of plants. Consequently it seemed desirable to make a survey
of these practices as employed on the fields from which the samples were
selected. The data from this survey are summarized in Table 1. It is important
to note the relatively high rates at which fertilizer is applied in the
coastal-plain states as compared to the rates employed farther west. In the east
north-central states less dependence is placed on fertilizers and greater use is
made of clover sods and manure. Only relatively small amounts of fertilizer are
used in Colorado.

The rate of use of lime increases from Georgia northward to New Jersey. It
varies considerably from farm to farm in the east north-central states. No lime
was used on the Colorado farms.

TABLE 1. Fertilizer practices in state areas from which vegetable samples were
obtained.

Farmers using fertilizer (%) Amount fertilizer per acre (lbs.) Quantities
(nutrients per acre) Farmers using sidedressings (%)
N (lbs.) P2O5 (lbs.) K2O (lbs.)
Eastern coastal states 100 1,500 90 120 120 50*
East north-central states 40 500 20 60 50 5**
Colorado 39 200 25 40 10 5**
* Usually nitrate of soda or additional complete fertilizer.
** Some carrier of nitrogen.

Ash and Mineral Cation Content of Vegetables

Data on the ash and mineral cation content of 46 samples of snapbeans and 67
samples of tomatoes are shown, state by state, in Table 2. Summary values for
all five vegetables are given in Table 3. After consideration of the
state-average and summary values, in conjunction with the individual values for
the 204 samples of all five vegetables, of which only the extremes are shown at
the bottom of the table, the following conclusions were drawn:

Ash, Ca, and cation-equivalent values tend to increase from south to north and
from east to west.

1. K values tend to increase from east to west.
2. Mg values tend to increase from north to south and from east to west.
3. Na values tend to decrease from east to west.7


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7 Spinach appears to be an exception when judged by the data in Table 3. The Na
content of spinach was highest, however, in the east north-central states. The
average Na content of spinach from those states was 0.86%, in comparison with
only 0.06% Na in Colorado spinach.


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Phosphorus and Minor Element Content of Vegetables

The P, B, Mn, Fe, Mo, Cu, and Co content of the same samples of snapbeans and
tomatoes from all 10 states are shown in Table 4. Studies of these state average
values, in conjunction with the 204 individual values, of which only the
extremes are shown at the bottom of the table, permit of the following
conclusions:

1. P values are relatively constant from state to state, but the individual
values for each vegetable vary between wide extremes.
2. B, Fe, Mo, Cu, and Co values tend to increase from east to west.
3. Mn values tend to decrease from east to west.

Miscellaneous Observations

Wide variations were found from region to region in the percentage ash and of
each of the individual mineral nutrient elements in the ash.

Wide variations were found in the cation-summation values. This is to be
expected, since the environmental conditions under which the plants had been
grown were very dissimilar.

Spinach was notably high in ash. Variations in K, Na, B, and Fe values were
greatest in this plant. The K values varied between 10.05 and 3.31%, the Na
values between 1.60 and 0.02%, the B values between 88 and 12 ppm, and the Fe
values between 1584 and 19 ppm.8 Spinach appeared to be an accumulator of both
Mo and Co.


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8 Southern Cooperative Series Bulletin 2, Georgia Agricultural Experiment
Station, 1944, on the "effect of fertilizer and environment on the iron content
of turnip greens," by M. Spiers, et al., is of interest in the connection.
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Tomatoes showed the greatest variation in Ca, Mg, and Cu. The Ca values varied
between 0.40 and 0.09%, the Mg values between 0.72 and 0.14%, and the Cu values
between 46 and 0 ppm.

Snapbeans grown in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Colorado were notably high in
Mo. The average Mo value for the four east north-central states and Colorado was
3.9 ppm, in comparison with 0.4 ppm for the six coastal-plain states. The
highest Mo value, 24.1 ppm, was found in a sample of Indiana cabbage.

Lettuce and spinach were two exceptions in the general trend of higher Mn values
in the eastern states than in the east north-central states and Colorado. The
explanation for this probably lies in the fact that eastern soils are usually
well limed for these crops. Often they are overlimed. The lowest Mn value, 0.6
ppm, was found in a sample of lettuce from New Jersey, and the highest, 161 ppm,
in a sample from Indiana.

Colorado vegetables, in comparison with those from the other nine states, were
relatively high in Co, Mo, Cu, and Ca in the order indicated. They were
moderately high in K, Mg, Fe, and B, in the order indicated. They were about
average in P, relatively low in Mn, and very low in Na.

The K content of Colorado vegetables was not as high relatively as one might
expect. The explanation for this is found in the fact that the soils of Colorado
are relatively very high in Ca and Mg, as well as in K. It is important to note
also that liberal applications of K, in the form of fertilizers and manures, are
made to the land in the east and south in preparation for growing vegetables.
This is in marked contrast to the very small rates of application of such
materials in Colorado.

Summary and Conclusions

Two hundred and four samples of cabbage, lettuce, snapbeans, spinach and
tomatoes were analyzed for their content of ash, Ca, Mg, K, Na, P, B, Mn, Fe,
Mo, Cu, and Co.

These samples were chosen from Georgia, Virginia, South Carolina, Maryland, New
Jersey, New York (Long Island), Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Colorado.

Wide variations were found in the mineral content of vegetables of the same
variety.

Ash, Ca, and cation-equivalent values tended to increase and Mg values to
decrease from south to north.

Ash, cation-equivalent, Ca, Mg, K, B, Fe, Mo, Cu, and Co values tended to
increase from east to west.

Na and Mn values tended to decrease from east to west.

P values tended to be relatively constant, but wide individual variations were
found in the same variety of vegetable.

The greatest variations in K, Na, B, and Fe values were found in spinach.

The greatest variations in Ca, Mg, and Cu values were found in tomatoes.

Snapbeans from Ohio westward were relatively very high in Mo.

Colorado vegetables, in comparison with those from the other states, were
relatively high in Co, Mo, Fe, Ca, K, Mg, Cu, and B, in the order indicated;
about average in P; and relatively low in Mn and Na.

Literature Cited

1. ALBRECHT, Wm. A. Our teeth and our soils. Ann. Dent., 6:199-213. 1947.

2. BEAR, FIRMAN E., and PRINCE, ARTHUR L. Cation-equivalent constancy in
alfalfa. Jour. Amer. Soc. Agron., 37:217-222. 1945.

3. ______ and TOTH, STEPHEN J. Influence of calcium on availability of other
soil cations. Soil Sci., 65:69-74. 1948.

4. BEESON, KENNETH C. The mineral composition of crops, with particular
reference to the soil on which they were grown. U.S.D.A. Misc. Pub, No. 369.
1941.

5. BOUSSINGAULT, J. B. Rural Economy. Translation by George Law. New York:
Orange Judd. p. 64. 1865.

6. HARMER, PAUL M., and BENNE, ERWIN J. Sodium as a crop nutrient. Soil Sci.,
60: 137-149. 1945.

7. LUCAS, R. E., and SCARSETH, G. D. Potassium, calcium. and magnesium balance
and reciprocal relationships in plants. Jour. Amer. Soc. Agron., 39: 887-897.
1947.

8. NIGHTINGALE, GORDON T. The nitrogen nutrition of green plants. 11. Bot. Rev.,
14: 185-221. 1948.

9. Sims, G. T., and VOLK, G. M. Composition of Florida-grown vegetables. Fla.
Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. 438. 1947.

10. WALLACE, ARTHUR, TOTH, STEPHEN J., and BEAR, FIRMAN E. Further evidence
supporting cation-equivalent constancy in alfalfa. Jour. Amer. Soc. Agron., 40:
80-88. 1948.



Misquotes of "Variation in Mineral Composition of Vegetables"
A study conducted at Rutgers University (Bear et al., 1948) is frequently
misquoted as evidence supporting the position that organically grown vegetables
are significantly superior in minerals and trace elements to conventionally
grown vegetables. In reviewing the original publication, one can clearly see
that this was not the intention of the study nor does it give support to this
premise. The purpose of the study was to compare the mineral composition of
vegetables "as one proceeds from south to north and from east to west in the
United States." Samples of cabbage, lettuce, snapbean, spinach, and tomatoe were
obtained from commercial fields of these crops and analyzed for mineral
composition. A total of 204 samples were examined. The vegetables sampled were
usually, but not always, of the same variety. The authors reported, in a table,
the range in mineral concentration as highest and lowest values observed among
the vegetables sampled. These highest and lowest values have been misrepresented
as vegetables grown organically and inorganically, respectively, in various
organic farming and healthfood newsletters, which cite the report (copies of the
misquotes are available on request).

The authors discussed the influence of soil type, fertilizer practice, and
climate on the observed differences in mineral composition. The study only
provides a general survey of their possible influence and did not compare
synthetic fertilizer and organic practices.

Received 11 Mar. 1991.

JOSEPH R. HECKMAN
Crop Science Dept.
Rutgers Univ.
New Brunswick, NJ 08903

References

Bear, F.E., S.J. Toth, and A.L. Prince. 1948. Variation in mineral composition
of vegetables. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 13:380-384.

Reprinted from the Soil Science Society of America Journal
Volume 55, No. 5, September-October 1991
677 South Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA

source:
http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/pubs/bearreport/index.html

21jan02

If one paid close attention, one may have come to understand that the Vegetables
grown in the western states contained a Higher Mineral content, than those grown
in the eastern USA ?

Per this : Colorado vegetables, in comparison with those from the other states,
were relatively high in Co, Mo, Fe, Ca, K, Mg, Cu, and B, in the order
indicated; about average in P; and relatively low in Mn and Na.


The Reason for this may be that these soils have not been farmed as long, nor
had as much rain to Leach the Minerals from the soil as the Eastern and Southern
Soils !

And in the beginning these Western Soils had very little Bug problems and very
little Disease in the Vegetables, but this has "ALL" changed in recent years as
the Soils have been Raped of their Soil Life by the use of commercial
fertilizers and Pesticides and Herbicides etc !

"WE" are what "WE" eat !

So, when "WE" grow Poor Quality foods to eat, thus "WE" become Sick and Diseased
from these Poor Quality foods !

Smile Tis your choice.