2008 Volume 19 Issue 1 Pages 18-27
We obtained lettuces, komatsunas (Japanese mustard spinaches), and spinaches from farmers in several prefectures for the purpose of comparing organically-grown vegetables with conventionally-grown vegetables that farmers cultivated, and then performed the sensory assessment tests on each vegetable. The following results were found :
1)There was no difference between the cultivation methods of the raw lettuces.
2)Boiled organically-grown komatsunas were sweeter and more tasteful in the overall evaluations than the boiled conventionally-grown ones. The results of the organoleptic evaluation of the komatsunas showed that the difference in the variety had a stronger effect than did the difference between the cultivation techniques.
3)Boiled conventionally-grown spinaches were more colorful than the boiled organically-grown ones.
“The overall evaluation” of the lettuces, komatsunas and spinaches was most strongly associated with the “taste” among the “appearance”, “aroma”, “texture” and “taste” factors. “The aftertaste” was closely related to“the overall evaluation of taste”. These results suggest that the cultivation technique is an important factor when growing vegetables with a good quality.
