Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello all:

A friend of mine recently asked this very poignant question regarding nitrates and nitrites...

It is commonly understood that humans should avoid foods with excess nitrates, and certainly processed foods that use nitrates or nitrites (usually sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite) are frowned upon by some health gurus. So the question is simply this: Are the nitrates that the plants absorb (which to them are "good") bad for us? Or is it a matter of chemistry - i.e. nitrates is a generic term, and whereas sodium nitrate is indeed found in many processed foodstuffs and should generally be avoided, nitrates in plants are a different matter? Any input would be most appreciated.

The latter Waimea....

"Nitrates" are a generic term... that the plant converts to starchs, sugars etc for growth... in the same way as "nitrogen based fertilisers"....

The use of sodium nitrite or nitrate ... as a preservative... is another matter.... and should be avoided...

+1

And the plants covert the nitrates into other things in order to grow. So while it might not be very good for people to drink water that is high in nitrates because of fertilizer run off into the water supplies, It is usually still safe (well this is sometimes debatable but usually has nothing to do with the nitrates) to eat plants that were grown using the nitrate fertilizers.

So doing the aquaponics is much better since it helps keep the nitrates from washing into the water supplies since it is a re-circulating system. There are parts of the US where nitrates from agriculture have contaminated the water supplies so bad that you have to use purified or bottled water to give an infant a bath. (Nitrates being especially bad for newborns.) I'm glad that isn't the case here. Aquaponics... saving the world one back yard at a time. And when you harvest the meal right at home, no need for preservatives. But how do you get kids to eat their fish hot dogs?

Tell them "it's either that or tofu burgers again"...

i love it
"[size=150]aquaponics saving the world one backyard at a time[/size]"

can i use that expression tc

Sure, I'm all about promotion of good ideas!!!!!

Many people have asked me that question...

And the other question I hear a lot is "Are the plants in AP as nutritious as other vegetables?"
It would be nice one day to do a comparison of AP veggies Vs supermarket bought veggies..

There is no point, fresh AP against, supery veg
But if you mean vitamins etc... Lets get Murdoch to run some tests, they would love that

yeah, a bloke asked me that today, not often I don't know the answer but that was one time lol. really had no idea if they are as nutritious, but what I say is that if the plant looks good, it probably is good, and if it tastes good, it definately is good ... and offerend him a tomato that tasted like a tomato

Yeah, I did my comparison!
I know there are no chemicals and pecticides on mine.
It is as fresh as when I pick it. Can't get fresher.
I know I don't have to throw it out when I get home (cause its brown)or after it has been in the fridge for a few days.
It doesn't cost a fortune, because we eat what is in season.
The pluses of course are I grew it myself and I don't have to get in the car and go buy it.
I would take how grown anyday!
It's only natural after all>

Even if we don't know for sure that the plants are getting all the trace and micro nutrients that can make them more nutritious, there is an amount of nutrition that is always highest when the food is freshest so we have that point on our side.

Now I suspect that AP veggies in a system where supplements like seasol or maxicrop are used are likely to be far better than the commercial agriculture crops that only apply the big 3 chemical fertilizers so they can grow big stuff fast for the least amount of money.

I'm sure at some point some one will need to do some testing so we can have those answers.

Here are a few other good points about growing food in your own back yard.
1- you can grow varieties that are bread for taste and nutrition (commercial growers often grow what stands up to shipping best and bugger the rest.)
2- There are many different varieties of food plants that you never see in stores and it can be fun to experiment.
(Variety will give far better nutrition than any single supper veggie.)
3-Fresh of course is tasty and more nutritious.
4- free of harmful chemicals (because we have to keep our fish alive too.)
5- Reduced pollution and water use
6- the wonderful feeling of eating meals that are produced right in your own yard.

And lets not forget.. that fish feed itself is a "balanced" formulation.... that includes trace elements...

So we're getting trace element input to the plants constantly... not just when "broadcast" fertilised as in soil...

my 20cents?

i think that even "high" nitrates in an AP context would be considered "low" nitrates in a hydroponics setting (bugger, now youve got me wanting to work out what the ppm of nitrate in a stock solution of nutes is )

i believe one of the main concerns with high nitrate concs in veg is the ability of them to revert back to nitrites with extreme cooking

I think traditionally high nitrate concs in veg have been associated with harvest after heavy ferilization and or harvest after ferilization with low lighting (plant doesn't use/convert all the nitrate)

on nutrient content:

traceminerals have always been a concern for me, but considering the TM content in commercial food is utterly pittyful (there was a circa 1960's US senate document attesting this fact) then how much worse can AP be? lol.

i have tried to incorporate a broad range of mediums in my growbed including some that is meant to have a high trace mineral content.

as far as vitamins and other phyto nutrients go i dont think that they are going to be low, keep in mind that vitamins and are manufactured by the plants from macro nutes. minerals are a different story, if a particular mineral is not in the water then it wont be in the plant. period.

even if my AP produce is nutritionally equal to commercial stuff i'm still 100x better off knowing that it has been sprayed a total of zero times

Ha, i see i have not lost my touch for long posts