FOOD QUALITY AND SAFETY

Nutrients are necessary to produce good, wholesome, high-quality food. Mineral fertilizers play an important role to achieve this. 

• Fertilizers for a high nutritional value: 
  Crop nutrition has a major influence over food quality, one of today’s major concerns of the consumer. There is no doubt that a balanced fertilization has a positive effect on crop quality. A high availability of nitrogen thus results in higher protein content, and scientists have recently found that it also boosts vitamin content.

• Fertilizers for tempting and appetizing food: 
  It is a well known fact that fertilizers can significantly limit, even avoid, defaults or crop disorders in specialty fruit and vegetables, and improve their appearance. For example, potassium not only saves citrus fruits from their common defects (i.e. plugging and creasing), but also contributes to making the fruit meatier and juicier. Potassium is also essential for producing high quality potatoes that do not blacken after cooking.

• Fertilizers for tasty and scented food: 
  The organoleptic (sensory) qualities of specialty produce or crops can be significantly improved by monitoring the application of some particular nutrients in a precise way (exact quantities at the right period of the crop’s growth). Potassium is known to increase the sugar content in grapes and, therefore, the richness of the must. The fermentation process in wine cannot provide full aroma or fragrance unless nitrogen has been applied to the vine. Potassium also generally increases the acidity of fruits and the application of iron optimises the acid ratio in citruses, one of the essential quality criteria for this crop. 
  Nitrogen is also necessary to grow tasty and juicy tomatoes. It enhances sugar and acid content of the tomato and prevents it from becoming mealy.