THEY may carry a higher price tag, but organic fruit and vegetables can help beat cancer, diabetes and heart disease, according to experts at a North East university.

Researchers from Newcastle University have discovered organic produce is 12% healthier than conventionally-grown greens. And the researchers say eating organic fruit and vegetables could help us live longer – even if it is just for a few more days.

The team, from the School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, found that organic crops contain significantly higher levels of “secondary metabolites” – healthy compounds that are believed to protect our bodies from disease.

The study, which has been published in the academic journal Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, saw the researchers reviewing all the published research on secondary metabolites and vitamin C in fruits and vegetables produced using organic or conventional methods.

Dr Kirsten Brandt, a senior lecturer on food science who led the team, said: “Organic and conventional-production methods result in small but highly significant differences in composition of fruits and vegetables. We therefore used these foods for a preliminary study designed to generate discussion about methodology in the scientific community.

“We made the assumption that increasing the content of biologically-active compounds by 12% would be equivalent to increasing your daily intake of fruit and vegetables by the same amount.