Print This PageVegetable Quality & Nutrition
Better Tasting and More Nutritious Vegetables
At our industry-leading vegetable quality and nutrition labs, we analyze the components in vegetables that make them such good sources for nutrition.
This allows our plant breeders to select varieties with improved flavor and higher levels of vitamins and nutrients, including new "super vegetables" with enhanced levels of natural compounds believed to guard against illnesses, such as cancer and heart disease.
Tens of thousands of samples are tested each year. Researchers use sophisticated equipment to measure antioxidants, such as lycopene, as well as sweetness, acidity, color, pungency and enzyme content... Even how crisp the flesh of a melon is!
All of these traits can be enhanced through plant breeding.
Flavanoids
Researchers are working with flavonoids, naturally occurring plant compounds that provide numerous health benefits and keep the plants themselves healthy as well. Scientists have already identified some 4,000 flavonoids.
