Much like an onion, there are a lot of layers to the organic produce versus conventional produce argument. The thickest layer of all? Nutrients, of course! But, breaking down nutrients goes deeper than vitamins and minerals, but also antioxidant properties. That’s exactly what a study published by ACP looked into, using conventional and organic onions as their subjects of choice.

First, let’s talk about why people choose organic in the first place. Some reasons include less pesticide use, lighter environmental impact, or even taste preference, but a major reason is that we generally tend to think they’re healthier. To any given person, what makes a “healthy” food can carry a different definition. Some may look at the chemicals involved in the growing process, others may look at vitamins and minerals, and some look at how specific foods have an effect on specific parts of the body. While past studies have confirmed that both organic and conventionally grown produce are similar in vitamins and mineral nutrients, they didn’t look at other beneficial nutrients.

Organic onions offer more antioxidants than conventional ones

After five years of believing that organic growing methods offered no additional nutritional value to foods, a six-year research study conducted by Teagasc Food Research Centre and University College Cork in Ireland found something that went overlooked: antioxidants.

Testing two varieties of onions in both organic and conventional growing environments, they found that the organic onions had noticeably higher levels of antioxidants. The difference, surprisingly, doesn’t come from pesticides/herbicides, rather from the organic soil treatment. The soil treatment helped boost flavonols by 20% over conventional onions and increase antioxidant activity in both varieties of onions. Unfortunately, they’ll still make you cry the same amount when cutting (but there are ways to prevent that).

You’ll need to know more than what you find on a nutritional fact sheet for you to determine the nutritional value of a food. On top of a lack of pesticides and other chemicals, this study helps open the door to understanding what additional benefits organic foods may have over their conventional counterparts.