Historical declines in nutrient composition
2019-05-30 19:12:17.873517+02 by Dan Lyke 0 comments
Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Volume 56, March 2017, Pages 93-103 — Study Review — Mineral nutrient composition of vegetables, fruits and grains: The context of reports of apparent historical declines. Yes, crop yields are up, and yes, there are some decreases in absolute values of trace minerals, but:
... To follow through on the extreme case of copper with reported apparent historical declines ranging from −34% to −81%, the context is that per 100 g dry weight, vegetables have 0.11–1.71 mg of copper (a natural range of variation of 1555%), fruit 0.01–2.06 mg (20,600% range), and grains 0.1–1.4 mg (1400% range) so even a change of 81% is well within the natural range of variation, and copper composition has been reported to be strongly subject to the dilution effect. The study authors who found statistically significant decreases in the content of particular mineral nutrients per dry weight of fruits, vegetables, or grains all agreed that these changes were not likely to have any significant impact on the nutritional health of consumers, a fact glossed over in some popular press reports citing these studies.