Sostanze Grasse Animali e Vegetali: Aspetti Qualitativi dei Prodotti Biologici

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of traditional and organic agricultural, feeding and breeding systems on the quality of lipids from animal and vegetable origin. The study was divided into three main sections: 1) evaluation of extra virgin olive oils obtained from olives produced by conventional and organic agricultural systems; 2) evaluation of liposoluble minor components obtained from soybeans and barley seeds produced by conventional and organic agricultural systems; 3) effects of different breeding and feeding systems on cholesterol oxidation and sterol content of freeze-dried egg yolks. In general, slight, no significant differences were found between lipids from animal and vegetable products obtained by conventional and organic systems. Nevertheless, these results correspond to only one set of experiments, which could have been influenced by the particular weather conditions of the 2003 harvest. Therefore, this set of data should be considered as preliminary, but they represent a good starting basis for further studies in this field. More research is required in this area and it would be advisable to evaluate vegetable products from different harvest years, in order to draw valid conclusions.