An increasing interest in organic agriculture for food production is seen throughout the world and one key reason for this interest is the assumption that organic food consumption is beneficial to public health. The present paper focuses on the background of organic agriculture, important public health related compounds from crop food and variations in the amount of health related compounds in crops. In addition, influence of organic farming on health related compounds, on pesticide residues and heavy metals in crops, and relations between organic food and health biomarkers as well as in vitro studies are also the focus of the present paper. Nutritionally beneficial compounds of highest relevance for public health were micronutrients, especially Fe and Zn, and bioactive compounds such as carotenoids (including pro-vitamin A compounds), tocopherols (including vitamin E) and phenolic compounds. Extremely large variations in the contents of these compounds were seen, depending on genotype, climate, environment, farming conditions, harvest time, and part of the crop. Highest amounts seen were related to the choice of genotype and were also increased by genetic modification of the crop. Organic cultivation did not influence the content of most of the nutritional beneficial compounds, except the phenolic compounds that were increased with the amounts of pathogens. However, higher amounts of pesticide residues and in many cases also of heavy metals were seen in the conventionally produced crops compared to the organic ones. Animal studies as well as in vitro studies showed a clear indication of a beneficial effect of organic food/extracts as compared to conventional ones. Thus, consumption of organic food seems to be positive from a public health point of view, although the reasons are unclear, and synergistic effects between various constituents within the food are likely.

Stem rust is one of the most devastating diseases of wheat. Widely virulent races of the pathogen in the Ug99 lineage (e.g., TTKSK) are threatening wheat production worldwide; therefore, there is an urgent need to enhance the diversity of resistance genes in the crop. The objectives of this study were to identify new sources of resistance in wheat-alien introgression derivatives from Secale cereale, Leymus mollis, L. racemosus, and Thinopyrum junceiforme, postulate genes conferring the resistance, and verify the postulated genes by use of molecular markers. From seedling tests conducted in the greenhouse, the presence of seven known stem rust resistance genes (Sr7b, Sr8a, Sr9d, Sr10, Sr31, Sr36, and SrSatu) was postulated in the wheat-alien introgression lines. More lines possessed a high level of resistance in the field compared with the number of lines that were resistant at the seedling stage. Three 2R (2D) wheat-rye substitution lines (SLU210, SLU238, and SLU239) seemed likely to possess new genes for resistance to stem rust based on their resistance pattern to 13 different stem rust races but the genes responsible could not be identified. Wheat-rye, wheat-L. racemosus, and wheat-L. mollis substitutions or translocations with single and multiple interchanges of chromosomes, in particular of the B and D chromosomes of wheat, were verified by a combination of genomic in situ hybridization and molecular markers. Thus, the present study identified novel resistance genes originating from different alien introgressions into the wheat genome of the evaluated lines. Such genes may prove useful in enhancing the diversity of stem rust resistance in wheat against widely virulent pathogen races such as those in the Ug99 lineage.

Rose hips and sea buckthorn berries contain high amounts of beneficial bioactive compounds. In this study the content and stability of natural vitamins and antioxidants were investigated in two fruit beverages made from rose hip powder, sea buckthorn berry purée and white grape juice concentrate, and wheat germ oil in one of the beverages. Beverages were formulated, pasteurised and filled aseptically in Tetra Brik packages and stored up to 35 days at 4 °C or 22 °C. Samples were analysed for the content of ascorbic acid, carotenoids, major phenolics, tocochromanols, total phenols and total antioxidant capacity as ferric reducing ability. The largest changes occurred during the first 5 days of storage, thereafter mainly ascorbic acid decreased. In the wheat germ oil supplemented beverage, α-tocopherol was more rapidly degraded. Negative correlations between the decrease of some carotenoids and tocochromanols, and the increase of some phenolics, suggest relationships of redox reactions specific to the amount of oil supplemented. From the present study we can conclude that additions of oil to beverages should be carefully selected to avoid oxidations of bioactive compounds. Furthermore, packaging of the beverages should be carried out at higher temperatures and thereafter it should be stored at low temperatures (4 °C), which decreased oxidation of all bioactive compounds except ascorbic acid.