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"It's a well-documented phenomenon that nutrient levels in produce have been declining for decades. ... There are several reasons for this, but most of them are
by krunck 2y ago
"It's a well-documented phenomenon that nutrient levels in produce have been declining for decades. ... There are several reasons for this, but most of them are due to modern agricultural practices. These reasons include: ... higher CO2 levels in atmosphere diluting nutrient content in plants, ... "
The author then links to an X post with a chart that shows relative carbon and nitrient levels and that says that "exposure to high levels of CO2 reduces the nutritional value of plants". It's not clear to me from the chart that spinach raised in high CO2 levels would contain less nutrients per kilogram than regular spinach. The chart only show proportions of the nutrients to carbon. Does the amount of carbon per kilogram of edible spinach stay the same or go down as CO2 increases? It's not clear.
- adrian_b 2y agoThe amount of carbon per kilogram of spinach is determined by its content of water. This is unlikely to change much. More CO2 that is captured is likely to stimulate the synthesis of more cellulose, i.e. of more cell walls, so the plants should grow faster, possibly also bigger. Even when grown in soil with the same amount of minerals, the plants that grow faster and/or bigger may be more depleted in anything else besides carbohydrates.