Nutrients and Non-Essential Metals in Darkibor Kale Grown at Urban and Rural Farms: A Pilot Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bachman G ; Fukagawa NK ; Green C ; Kim BF ; Lupolt SN ; Nachman KE ; Phillips KM ; Richardson ML ; Santo RE ; Yang T ; Zhu X
• Description:
  Kale is a nutrient-dense leafy vegetable associated with wide-ranging health benefits. It is tolerant of drought and temperature fluctuations, and could thus serve an increasingly important role in providing a safe and nutritious food supply during the climate crisis, while kale's ease of cultivation and ability to be grown in a wide range of soils make it a good fit for urban agriculture. In this pilot study we explored potential differences between kale grown at urban versus rural farms. We planted kale seedlings (Darkibor variety) at three urban and four rural farms in and around Baltimore City, Maryland, instructed farmers to cultivate them using their usual growing practices, harvested the kale from fields and points of distribution, and analyzed it for concentrations of carotenoids, vitamins C and K1, ten nutritional elements, and eight non-essential metals. Although sample sizes for some analyses were in some cases too small to produce statistically significant results, we identified potentially meaningful differences in concentrations of several components between urban and rural kale samples. Compared to urban samples, mean concentrations of carotenoids and vitamins were 22-38% higher in rural field samples. By contrast, mean concentrations for eight nutritional elements were higher in urban field samples by as much as 413% for iron. Compared to rural field samples, mean concentrations of nine non-essential metals were higher in urban samples, although lead and cadmium concentrations for all samples were below public health guidelines. Some urban-rural differences were more pronounced than those identified in prior research. For six elements, variance within urban and rural farms was greater than variance between urban and rural farms, suggesting urbanicity may not be the primary driver of some observed differences. For some nutrients, mean concentrations were higher than upper ranges reported in prior estimates, suggesting kale may have the potential to be more nutrient-dense than previously estimated. The nutritive and metals composition of this important crop, and the factors that influence it, merit continued investigation given its growing popularity. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Climate Change Hot Temperature Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Climate Change Climatic Conditions Food Contaminants Hot Environments Nutrition
• ISSN:
  1932-6203
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  19
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069594
• Citation:
  PLoS One 2024 Apr; 19(4):e0296840
• Contact Point Address:
  Katherine M. Phillips, Department of Biochemistry, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States of America
• Email:
  kmpvpi@vt.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Performing Organization:
  Johns Hopkins University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  PLoS One
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:45c5c13fb601fd533e0ea425cc7a1c7b325f09596f436460fd05abaa09e8d0fafbc4aeceb801a944b525d40c0070ad36c851af0dc4c4005f1da6fe733e68f1f7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207996/cdc_207996_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.56 MB ]