Up to 92% increase of cancer-preventing lunasin in organic spring barley

Lunasin is a plant peptide that has health benefits such as cancer-preventing, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cholesterol-lowering effects. However, there is actually no information on the influence of cropping on the lunasin content of cereals. Therefore, we studied lunasin in 22 spring barley genotypes grown both organically and conventionally during two seasons. We found that lunasin content of barley grain averaged 44.8 µg/g, ranging from 5.0 to 189.0 µg/g. Organic farming increased average lunasin content by 47- 92 %. Ten out of 22 genotypes produced significantly more lunasin under organic farming in both years. Our findings evidence positive effects of organic farming on lunasin content in barley.