Nutrional content of aquaponically grown vegetables

[bp1956]

Hello all,
I apologize in advance if this has been covered in the forum previously, but I'm looking to get good information that compares the nutritional content of aquaponic grown vegetables versus those grown in organic soils. Can anyone point me in the direction to reliable sources?
Thanks!

[davidstcldfl]

That's a great question bp1956. I've seen discussions about it. I'm not aware of any actual research.
Maybe UrbanFarmer will pull something out of his gardening wizards hat.... :P

There are so many variables, that come to mind...

-The test would have to use the 'exact' veggies in both the AP and soil.
Tomatoes for example, vary in nutrients ,from one type to the next

-What type/brand of fish feed would be used in the test ?

-What fish are being used ?
Stucco mentioned that he didn't think cats do as well as tilapia.

-What type of AP system ?
A media system with worms 'may/should' have more nutrients....even if it's slight. We are counting in the test.
I still see this as AP....I'm using troughs with AP water flowing through. The plants are in wicking bags, using potting mix made up by myself. I used various bat guanos , bone and blood meal, azomite, epson salts and lime.

-How is the system ran/maintained ?
...Many add sea salt to their system's water, they should have more trace nutes....even if it's slight
...Many AP'ers use foliar spray, I usually use maxi crop and molasses....sometimes a little worm castings.
...Many, including myself, add maxi crop to the water.
...I already mentioned worms in media, what are they being fed besides fish waste ?
...Will the test include systems with different PH levels ?

...Will the veggies be grown in the same grow zone..at the same time ?

[rfeiller]

excellent post Dave, get very frustrated when i see someone that has dragged up statistics from only God knows where and publishes them as gospel guidelines for there projections.
i can assure you that the addition of vermiponics to my system made a HUGE difference.

Rich

[davidstcldfl]

Thanks Rich...

I wish there were some tests being done. I'm actually hoping UF comes up with something. Any comparison, would be a good starting point.
It would be interesting to see results, listing and including the variables.

[urbanfarmer]

I was reluctant to post because I honestly don't think any scientific research has gone into specifically comparing nutritional value of AP grown veggies vs. veggies grown in soil. However, I didn't want to dissuade anyone from checking! I can't find anything nor have I ever heard of this. It's just that AP is such a small field and so few academics are involved right now. I think people are still trying to figure out what an AP system really is, how to define it, and how to operate one successfully. I think once that is established properly, there will be a standard to test nutritional values of AP grown veggies. Until then, it may be impossible to define what that is to perform an experiment or research... I don't mean to be a Debbie downer. I really hope someone finds something!

[Basil1]

Closest thing I've seen recently was a report that said organic vegetables had no more nutritional value than conventionally grown ones.

[Aufin]

Closest thing I've seen recently was a report that said organic vegetables had no more nutritional value than conventionally grown ones.

I don't/can't believe that report.

[Basil1]

What they all say is while the taste may be better and it does not have the chemical additives, nutritionally they are identical.

[keith_r]

there's a guy that works for i think aes that has a pretty big ap system.. he did some brix test comparisons (measures sugars) between his soil and ap crops, his ap crops had consistantly higher scores
i haven't seen any "nutritional" studies though..

[urbanfarmer]

If available, I would like to see the study that supports the claim that AP grown veggies yield twice (or even significantly more) sugar than organically grown veggies (or any style of agriculture so long as the veggies grew under optimal conditionals). I'm just curious. Thank you