Carbon dioxide. Or if you prefer CO2. In the presence of higher values (obviously over time) of this compound associated with an equally maintained increase in higher temperatures, we could have Effects also on our everyday diet. Even if maybe we are careful to behave according to the dictates of theMediterranean nutritionfavoring fruit and vegetables. The combined arranged between climate Which changes and pollution could in fact affect the nutritional quality of food crops. With direct implications on health and well -being.
Beyond production
As reported by a note for the printing of the Congress of the Society for Experimental Biology held in Antwerp, the study that proposes this potential reality to be paid attention was coordinated by Jiata Ugwah Ekele of Liverpool John Moores University. And for once we are not talking about the economic surrender of the crops, but rather one thinks about consequences of climatic changes on the same qualities of food.
The study, in particular, tries to evaluate how and how much the nutritional value of what is cultivated for food purposes can be influenced by interactive effects of the increase in CO2 levels and the increase in temperatures associated with climate change.
“These environmental changes can influence everything, from photosynthesis and from growth rates to synthesis and imagination of nutrients in crops. It is essential to understand these impacts because We are what we eat And the plants constitute the foundation of our food network as primary manufacturers of the ecosystem “
Report the expert.
Under examination several plants
The research focused on Leaflet vegetableswith particular attention to particularly widespread foods such as the hell hedgehog, the rocket and the spinach. As part of the study, the crops have been grown in growth chambers at controlled temperature at Liverpool John Moores University, and CO2 and temperature levels are modified to simulate the future climatic scenarios provided for the United Kingdom. So measurements were proceeded.
“Photosynthetic markers such as the fluorescence of chlorophyll and quantum yield are evaluated during the growth of crops, while surrender and biomass are recorded at the time of the harvest”
It is the comment of the scholar.
After the plants have been grown in conditions of climate change, their nutritional quality was analyzed using high -performance liquid chromatography and X -ray fluorescence profiling to measure sugar concentrations, proteins, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, vitamins and antioxidants. What emerges? Basically, even if it is only preliminary data, it is observed that in the face of potentially faster and luxuriant growth in the presence of high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, The nutritional value of plants It could change. And not in a positive sense.
“After some time, crops showed a reduction of key minerals such as calcium and some antioxidant compounds”
The Ekele resumes.
The problem is when the effect of the rise in temperatures is added, in that sort of combined provisions we are talking about. The interaction between CO2 and thermal stress He had complex effects: crops have no longer grown in such a luxuriant or rapid way and the drop in nutritional quality intensified.
What could change
The key points of the research, despite being preliminary, are therefore of great interest. First of all, it should be remembered that not all the vegetables examined react equally to what could happen. So the advice, also for future studies, is to analyze together several elements that could affect these natural processes. Not only that. Higher CO2 levels could increase the concentration of sugars in cropsdiluting at the same time diluting essential proteins, minerals and antioxidants. The result could be to have a more caloric diet, even consuming vegetables, and with less nutritional value. This could affect the development of potential protein and vitamin deficiencies but above all to contribute to the weight gain of the population.
“A greater sugar content in crops, in particular fruit and vegetables, could lead to greater risks of obesity and type 2 diabetesin particular in the populations that already fight against non -transmissible diseases “
Ekele concludes.
