# Effect of Organic and Conventional Production on the Quality of Lemon \"Fino 49\"
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Total Soluble Solids (TSS), pH, Total Titratable Acidity, Organic Acids and Sugars  
The relationship between the concentration of sugars and organic acids is the main cause of the lemon flavor [14]. Total soluble solids (TSS), pH and total titratable acidity (TA) of the lemons grown by conventional and organic farming were analyzed (Table 4). In general, the flavor of citrus fruits is highly influenced by the level of TSS and organic acids [44]. In addition, TA is used as an indicator of the quality of juices [45]. Organic lemons had a lower TSS (8.77 \({}^{\circ}\)Brix) and total titratable acidity (57.27 g citric acid L\({}^{-1}\)) concentration than lemons grown in a conventional way (9.77 \({}^{\circ}\)Brix and 64.39 g citric acid L\({}^{-1}\)). However, both samples presented values higher than those defined by [PERSON], et al. [46] and [PERSON], et al. [47]. There were no significant differences regarding pH. Similar results on a lower total acidity content in samples from organic farming were also found in oranges [48], apples [49], and strawberries [50].  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **FW (g)** & **ED (mm)** & **PD (mm)** & **ED/PD** & **PT (mm)** \\ \hline Conventional & 121.75 a & 58.35 a & 79.66 a & 0.74 b & 5.53 a \\ Organic & 106.17 b & 56.32 b & 72.34 b & 0.78 a & 5.14 b \\ ANOVA & *** & ** & *** & ** & ** \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* *, ** and **: significant at \(p<0.05\), 0.01 and 0.001, respectively. Values followed by different letters, within the same column, were significantly different (\(p<0.05\)). FW (fruit weight), ED (fruit equatorial diameter), PD (fruit polar diameter), PT (peel thickness).  
\end{table}
Table 2: Physical parameters of lemon “Fino 49\({}^{\circ}\) cultivated under organic and conventional farming.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \(L^{*}\) & \(a^{*}\) & \(b^{*}\) & \(C^{*}\) & \(h\) & **CCI** \\ \hline _Lemon Skin_ & & & & & & \\ Conventional & 73.38 a & \(-4.42\) & 58.49 & 59.06 & 83.37 & \(-1.26\) \\ Organic & 70.92 b & \(-5.88\) & 56.73 & 57.55 & 82.21 & \(-1.74\) \\ ANOVA & * & NS & NS & NS & NS & NS \\ _Lemon Juice_ & & & & & & \\ Conventional & 30.77 & \(-1.31\) & \(-0.23\) & 1.34 & 10.72 & 322.31 \\ Organic & 33.44 & \(-1.48\) & 0.17 & 1.51 & 10.63 & 15.27 \\ ANOVA & NS & NS & NS & NS & NS & NS \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* NS: not significant at \(p>0.05\),*: significant at \(p<0.05\). Values followed by different letters, within the same column, were significantly different (\(p<0.05\)). \(L^{*}\) (lightness), \(a^{*}\) (green-red coordinate) and \(b^{*}\) (blue-yellow coordinate), C* (Chroma) and h (tone), CCI (Citrus Color Index = 1000 \(a^{*}/L^{*}\)p*)).  
\end{table}
Table 3: Color analysis of lemon skin and lemon juice under organic and conventional farming.  
Two sugars (glucose and fructose) and three organic acids (malic, citric and succinic) were identified and quantified in the lemon samples under study (Table 4). The samples grown under organic conditions presented a lower concentration in all the sugars (9.49 g L\({}^{-1}\) of glucose and 4.93 g L\({}^{-1}\) of fructose for the organic sample, and 10.67 g L\({}^{-1}\) of glucose and 5.50 g L\({}^{-1}\) of fructose for the conventional sample) and organic acids (0.27 g L\({}^{-1}\) of malic acid, 5.45 g L\({}^{-1}\) of citric acid and 0.56 g L\({}^{-1}\) of succinic acid for the organic sample, and 0.48 g L\({}^{-1}\) of malic acid, 6.04 g L\({}^{-1}\) of citric acid and 0.65 g L\({}^{-1}\) of succinic acid for the conventional sample) were detected. Similar values for sugars were reported by [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON] and [PERSON] [14], although these authors also found sucrose in the composition of sugars in lemon juice. These results agree with those obtained in the TSS and TA analyses. The same result, in terms of a higher content of citric acid in the fruits obtained through traditional cultivation, was obtained by [PERSON], et al. [51] in lemons (_Cirrus meyeri_ Tan).