Aquaponic Gardening

A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

If so. Please share why? Give your 2 cents or provide the proof. Thank you.

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A home Aquaponics system provides more nutritious food because you are eating it very fresh.  It isn't that the aquaponics makes it more nutritious because I believe any method of growing food right at home has those same benefits.  But I think aquaponics is great because it is an automatically watered/fertilized garden that also provides fish to eat.

Hello Miguel,

I'm a beginne at aquaponics but have done a lot of research and have taught private classes in health and nutrition.  I am also very interested in nutritional profile of vegetables grown in aquaponics system. There were no concrete studies done on this issue that I can find, but what I gather so far from examining various methods, I'm optimistic that :

1. The food grown will be as nutritious as traditionally grown organic counterparts when media grow bed with worms are incorporated. Also, when compared to non-organic vegetables, aquaponics vegetable should offer much better & balanced nutrient profile. 

2. Fish food will play vital role in compensating any possible missing nutrients/elements. Non-commercial fish food is what I would use to ensure optimal condition.

3. As TCLynx mentioned, since the vegetables (and fish) harvested will not go through conventional distribution system, aquaponics vegetables should provide optimal level of nutrition when the loss of nutrient/enzyme from vegetable is considered.

I'm still searching for data that measures nutrient value differences. I have looked University researches (U of Hawaii, U of Vancouver, Canada, as well as several overseas institutions but have not come across anything yet. I'll post the group if I find any.

Clifford

Thanks Clifford. I am kind of hoping for the same results, but I guess is the definitive answers come with doing research. To me it would suffice to measure PH and soluble nutrients in the water to determine the outcome. I am definately a proponent of the idea that what you put in is what you get out. If you are adding fish food. What is it made of? I allow leaves and debri into my system for this reason.Besides seaweed extracts etc. commonly used in aquaponics, I also have been looking at other potential sources of plant nutrients for aquaponics systems. 

Aquaponic crops might be less nutritious due to the high Nitrogen levels. It's good for growing plants but some plants need sub-optimal conditions to produce taste/nutrition. However because of the fact it's grown in water and can be alive until you start eating it has a higher nutritional quality like Clifford and TCLynx said.

I agree with plants needing sub-optimal condition to produce taste but not with nutrition (yet). I experienced the flavor of my grapes (in my soil garden) intensifies when the plants goes through some hardship (lack of water in my case), but I'm not sure whether it goes through any nutritional changes through hardship (I'm not saying No. I'm just not sure or have seen any definitive support for the case). Aquaponics plants seems to be bigger and more bountiful due to constant abundance of Nitrogen as Eric mentioned. 

University of Hawaii did interesting study in terms of mineral usage of aquaponic plants (google aquaponics and University of Hawaii) which shows plants in aquaponics do use variety of micro nutrients in different stages of their growth. Hence I assume that plants will retain some of these nutrition in them. 

Although nutrition question is still my last issue in my mind about aqaponics, I just don't see what other nutrient & minerals can be missing in great deal if we incorporate worms and vermiculture. So, I'm very hopeful.

Clifford

Eric Warwick said:

Aquaponic crops might be less nutritious due to the high Nitrogen levels. It's good for growing plants but some plants need sub-optimal conditions to produce taste/nutrition. However because of the fact it's grown in water and can be alive until you start eating it has a higher nutritional quality like Clifford and TCLynx said.

Some interesting stuff guys. The point about high nitrogen levels blocking out other nutrient uptakes, is of particular interest. Does the university of Hawaai's research suggest that this is the case or where can validate this?

 

The point about some plants needing to be stressed to produce better fruit is fascinating. Do you guys know why this happens? 

 

Thanks. So far this has definately been interesting.

Some plants take stress as a hint that it is time to produce seeds to perpetuate the species, especially if they are annuals and need to take care of this before the season gets away from them.

That makes sense. Thank you. 

Maybe I should shout at my tomatoes, then reconcile them later so thy don't poison me. 

 

Well, as long as you don't eat the leaves. 

Miguel Afonso said:

That makes sense. Thank you. 

Maybe I should shout at my tomatoes, then reconcile them later so thy don't poison me. 

 

No! In fact current AP  (in my opinion) is simply a nicer, less ecologically damaging form of factory farming/ feed lots. What most of the current AP systems produce are facsimile of natural, wholesome, balanced food.

Remember, you have to put it in before you can take it out. Current AP fish maybe lacking in vitamin B6, due to the overuse of grains. Supplemental micro nutrients must be incorporated in the appropriate amounts to produce balanced food. Scrap lettuce or kitchen trimmings does not cut it. Kelp extracts alone does not cut it. 

I believe that to date; both hydroponics and organic growing can supply more nutritious food than AP with corn and soy as the major ingredients, provided the grower knows what he/ she is doing. I believe that AP systems that incorporate a good composting regiment would improve nutritional balance but it all boils down to what each creature/ plant naturally consumes in its natural environment and the closer we duplicate it the more chances we have of obtaining real, natural food, full of the intended nutrients.

Two cases I would like to point out are Mc Donalds vs my eggs. A person living on inappropriate food like McDonald's will throw their biological systems out of whack in the blink of an eye. Yes that person may survive and grow to be served at market but whoever eats that meat is not doing themselves any favors. 

On the other hand, my chickens eat balanced portions of formulated organic pasture, organic grains and organic raised grubs under natural conditions produces truly wholesome food. My eggs have all the vitamins, minerals and compounds that were genetically programmed to have. Chuck full of B6, Beta-carotene

Another example of facsimile food is hybrid rice; a Dr. Yuan Longping and was touted as the savior of Asia. In the end, his rice contributed to millions of peoples suffering from malnutrition as well as ruining the livelihood of countless farmers.

I think we should seriously look into better forms of feed before we start comparing and marketing the idea that AP grown food is superior in any way but freshness.

This is from a book I've been re-reading...

"...

Although flavor is not a measured factor for fruit identification, high flavor
(organoleptic properties) sensed by the consumer can result in repeat sales
for labeled fruit of known origin. There are two measured factors that are
associated with “high” flavor, a fruit EC of 5.8 to 6.2 dS/m, and a BRIX
measurement of 4.8 to 5.0. Flavor can be a subjective factor since not everyone
can sense the same thing. In general, high acid- and sugar-containing fruit is
normally judged as “flavorful.” Most of the flavor in the tomato fruit resides
in the gel portion. Therefore, the ratio of gel to wall in the fruit can affect flavor.
High flavor stems from two fruit components, sugar (glucose and fructose)
content and level of volatile organic compounds. Forty-six percent of the dry
weight of fruit is sugar, 12% organic acids, 8% minerals, and the remaining
other organic compounds. The longer the fruit remains on the plant, the higher
will be its flavor. The cooler the air temperature, particularly nighttime temperature,
the higher the fruit flavor. In general, plants under stress produce
higher-flavored fruit; this is the reasoning behind the common procedure of
increasing the EC of the nutrient solution to about 4 dS/m or adding NaCl to
the nutrient solution at a concentration of 35 ppm in solution during the
fruiting period..."

I remember the guy that I used to buy my hoop-house plastic from telling me about this stress/flavor thing 7-8 years ago...



Miguel Afonso said:

That makes sense. Thank you. 

Maybe I should shout at my tomatoes, then reconcile them later so thy don't poison me. 

 

I read that many plants produce anti-oxydant and phytochemicals when they are exposed to hardship (pest, temperature swing -well known for grapes for wine, and fluctuation in the environment - like water availability).  Two request for comment:

1. Does anyone know of studies / researches done to support this?  I know of one from UC Davids. Any other studies? Perhaps overseas? French studies? 

2. I'm thinking if we, aquaponics camp, are willing to shift our focus from higher, faster production to tastier, more nutritious one, perhaps our design of constant availability of water & nutrition and well controlled temperature should be changed somewhat. How about controlled, random stressing of the plants to achieve that? Any thought?

Cliff

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