Quality and Nutrient Contents of Fruits Produced Under Organic Conditions

Organic farming is an agricultural practice that raises plants especially vegetables and fruits without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, or plant growth regulators. All over the world, the interest for organic farming has increased recently. Different greenhouse experiments were carried out in the northern Jordan Valley, to compare the effect of four fermented organic matter doses (1.5, 3.0, 4.5, and 6.0 kg m-2), or different organic matter sources (cattle, poultry, and sheep manure in addition to 1:1:1 mixture of the three organic matter sources) with that of the conventional fertilizer and control treatments on different fruit quality parameters. Results obtained showed that fruit titratable acidity (TA) percentage, size, moisture content, and ammonium and nitrate contents were higher in the conventionally produced fruits in comparison to the organically produced fruits. The organic treatments tended to produce fruits with higher anthocyanin, total soluble solids (TSS) percentage, dry matter content, ascorbic acid, total phenols, and crude fibre content in comparison to the control and conventionally produced fruits. In most cases, sheep manure source and 4.5 kg O.M m-2 treatment amount produced the best results.