Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

A commonly held belief is that organic vegetables are tastier than their conventionally grown counterparts. Vegetables grown without insecticides are more often attacked by herbivores. This herbivory leads to the emissions of compounds called herbivore induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) that often are perceivable for humans in taste and/or smell. In this study, we hypothesized that part of the difference in perceived quality in organic vegetables is due to the changes in biochemistry following herbivory, that could be detectable for humans. We investigated the difference in volatile emissions and organoleptic qualities between induced and non-induced vegetables. To do this, volatile emissions of three species of vegetables induced by Spodoptera littoralis larvae and their non-induced counterparts were analysed through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Thereafter an organoleptic test was held with volunteers to determine the difference in taste. All vegetables displayed a difference in volatile emissions between induced and non-induced plants and endive, Chicorium endivia, displayed a difference in smell. This concludes that herbivores do make a difference in volatile emissions of plants and that these differences also can be smelled in endive.