ABSTRACT
Conventionally-, organically- and self-grown carrots available across the Czech market were characterised based on their elemental, nitrate and dry matter content (218 samples, 20 parameters) in order to assess the quality of the carrots and address the question whether organic also means better. The results were compared with information describing the elemental composition of carrots published previously, recommended daily intakes, and legislative limits for contaminants in food. Significant differences in the amounts of Na, K, S, Al, Mn, Ni, As and Cd were observed between conventional and organic carrots. From the perspective of inter-element interactions, and the origin of these, a principal components analysis of the datasets found no significant differences between conventionally- and organically-grown carrots. For the consumer, it is valuable to know there are no differences between conventionally- and organically-grown carrots, and no potential harm arising from heavy metal contamination. Based on our data, carrots are an excellent source of potassium.
Subject(s)
Daucus carota/chemistry , Daucus carota/growth & development , Food Analysis/methods , Food Contamination/analysis , Food, Organic/analysis , Czech Republic , Food Analysis/instrumentation , Food Analysis/statistics & numerical data , Limit of Detection , Organic Agriculture , Principal Component Analysis , Reproducibility of Results , Spectrophotometry, AtomicABSTRACT
In this paper, the treatment of poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) nano/micro-mesh system by cryogenic grinding and subsequent characterization of obtained product is described. The PCL nano/micro-mesh layer submerged in appropriate liquid was cryogenically ground and obtained particles were characterized employing mainly laser diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In the ground sample, different types of particles (fibrous particles, fibrous fragments, agglomerates with and without an internal fibrous structure, lamellae and nanoparticles) were identified, described and quantified. Parameters of cryogenic grinding (weight of sample, type of liquid medium, and influence of sample storage) were optimized to maximize the yield of particles with desired features. The potential of the system for cell scaffolding was demonstrated by cultivation of 3T3 fibroblasts on the produced microparticles.
