Everybody wants to grow nutritious food and it has become common to measure nutrient density with a Brix refractometer. High Brix is equated to highly nutritious food, but is this really true?
Brix readings have been used in agriculture for many years but is there a reason for gardeners to bother making this measurement? What does it tell you about the quality of food? I’ll answer these and other questions in this post as I take you down the yellow brix road.
What is Brix?
Brix is a unit of measure for the total soluble solids in a sample, expressed as a % weight. The value can be measured by a device called a refractometer. You take a drop of juice from your plant, put it on the refractometer, and take a reading. The device is simple, relatively inexpensive, and anyone can learn to use it in a matter of minutes.
You can measure the Brix value of any type of plant. For example, you can use Brix readings to compare different kinds of apples or carrots. Apple A might have a higher Brix reading than apple B, which means that apple A contains a higher concentration of solids.
The term solids may be a bit confusing, but basically all chemicals in a liquid are considered to be solids.
What Does a Refractometer Measure?
A refractometer measures how light is bent as it travels through a liquid. If you look at a pencil in a glass of water you will notice that the part of the pencil in water does not join up with the part of the pencil in air. This is obviously an optical illusion. The water has bent the light coming from the submersed part of the pencil to make it look as if it is in a slightly different position than it really is.
The degree of bending depends on the amount of chemicals in the sample. If we add a small amount of chemical to water, we get a small amount of bending. If we add more chemical, we get more bending. A refractometer measures the amount of light bending which is directly related to the amount of chemicals in the water. Stated another way, it measures the concentration of chemicals in water.
A really important point here is that all chemicals in the sample bend light.
Scientists have standardized on a scale, or number system, that is called Brix. We measure temperature using a centigrade or Fahrenheit scale and we measure total solids with a Brix scale.
Brix and Nutrient Density of Food
The concept of nutrient dense food has become very prevalent with the increased concerns over non-organic agriculture, hydroponics and GMO foods. People are concerned about eating food that has little or no nutrition in it. This has lead to a whole movement that wants to eat and grow only nutritious food, which they call nutrient dense food.
Food is nutrient dense when it contains high amounts of nutrients. One way to measure nutrient density is to measure the amount of solids in food by taking a Brix reading. In some circles, Brix is now equated to nutrition.
The Brix Fallacy
The reading on a refractometer is the sum of all the solids in a sample. This includes sugar, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals and everything else you can think of. However, the relative impact of any one chemical on the final reading depends very much on the amount of that chemical in the sample.
Vitamins, for example, occur in very small amounts, compared to say carbohydrates. What this means is that you could change your growing conditions to double the amount of vitamins, and you would not see a significant change in the Brix reading. The same is true for most minerals.
Many of the chemicals important to our health exist in low concentrations, so changes in their concentration have little or no impact on the Brix reading.
Consider this analogy. You have a penny and a silver dollar in your pocket. You measure how much you have and come up with a reading of 1.01. If you double the amount of pennies, the reading stays about the same, 1.02.
So what does affect Brix? The main chemical that changes the Brix reading is sugar. A plant that makes more sugar will have a higher Brix reading. Other carbohydrates and proteins also affect Brix because they exist in high concentrations.
You find statements like this on the internet; “Any brix reading above 15 means the plant is going to be high in nutrients, thus making higher quality food.” But I can mix some water with sugar to make a 15 Brix solution – does that make it nutritious?
A high Brix may indicate a more nutritious food, but it might not. Statements like the above quote indicate the author does not understand Brix.
The one chemical that probably has the biggest impact on Brix, is water. Remember that Brix measures concentration. The solids in a sample will be diluted if the sample contains more water. A grape has a much lower Brix reading compared to the same fruit once it is dried into a raisin. The total amount of solids has not changed, but the concentration of solids has.
Even a tomato sitting on the counter, slowly loses moisture, and therefore has a higher brix. If you believe the Brix stories on the internet, a tomato is more nutritious tomorrow than it was yesterday.
Water affects Brix readings much more than any of the chemicals we consider nutritious. Stop watering your tomatoes before harvest and they will have a higher Brix reading. Water more and Brix drops.
Because the Brix reading is mostly affected by sugar and water, it is not very useful for measuring nutrition in food. A high Brix reading tells you nothing about nutrition, unless you are looking to consume more sugar.
Accuracy of Brix
The accuracy of refractometers is quite low compared to other types of laboratory equipment. Handheld refractometers have an accuracy of 0.2.
Orange juice contains 50 mg of vitamin C per 100 g of juice. Lets say we could grow orange trees to double this level. The extra vitamin C is significant compared to our daily requirement, but the Brix reading of our new orange would only go up by about 0.05. Due to the low accuracy of Brix, this is not enough to significantly change the final Brix reading of the juice.
Brix is not a good way to measure the amount of minor chemicals in our food.
Brix and Reduction of Pests
Numerous claims have been made about high Brix plants having lower pest and disease issues. The science on this was reviewed in 2010 and no correlation was found between Brix, and pests and diseases.
Brix and Measurement of Minerals
How does Brix relate to mineral content in plants? Here are the results of one interesting study.
Nineteen cultivars of lettuce, both modern and heritage varieties, where tested for calcium content. Brix readings were also taken. Testing was done with conventional and organic fertilizer, which included the addition of various amounts of calcium. The researchers concluded that, “Interactions were nonsignificant or presented no responses to suggest that any of these interactions were important factors in affecting °Brix in lettuce. Polynomial regression analysis showed no significant relationship of percent Ca and °Brix.”
A similar study looking at tomatoes found the same thing. A Brix reading is not related to mineral nutrient content.
Translation, Brix is not a good way to measure mineral content.
Does High Brix Equate to Nutritious Food?
The answer is no.
Brix readings can be useful for measuring things like sugar content in grapes, where it has been used for years and it has other uses in agriculture, but in the home garden there is no good reason for measuring Brix.
More importantly, don’t be fooled by any advertising that promises nutritious food based on Brix readings.
References:
- Image of refractometer by Fernando G; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Refractometer.jpg
- Image of pencil in water; https://www.maxpixel.net/Pencil-Refract-Pencil-In-Water-Bent-Pencil-2403662
When your shtick is myth busting, everything you don’t endorse or understand is fair game I guess. Brix is a relative not absolute measurement. The tool is used to compare and track changes in similar plants. Brix is not different than a myriad of calorie tests. So are we to assume calorie tracking is useless to? I’ve listened to most of your podcasts they are very entertaining and at times informative. However when one declares himself the authority on all things gardening though he lived the majority of his life in one region selling software and then pontificates that he knows what is useless and useful…I grow very suspicious. I sold software for 20+ years, garden and have lived in 8 different zones, yet I am certain there is more I do not know…than do.
1) Brix is an absolute measurement – you don’t understand the difference.
2) I never declared to be an authority on everything – I am reporting what other experts think.
3) I don’t sell software??
If you have not achieved high brix in crops then the natural is to defend it as a myth. I have had success in plums where the morning starting brix of the day was measured and it took us three years to get there but it was 21 . In Table grapes 19 (Took 2 years) Wine grapes 21 Olives 22 . The yields were excellent . The shelf life was exceptional . The difference with the grape crops were that we have to pick at a certain sugar level for harvest but with plums the pick is determined by the minimum pressure -It should be 9 and in The Western Cape (South Africa ) most plum producers struggle to get sugars in the plum to be as high as 13 . With our plums we had sugars of 18-21 at the correct pressures for export purposes. High Brix works. The most critical test is to measure the morning and evening brix on a sunny day and if there is no difference then you have a boron deficiency. It is an indicator tool and if used properly can bring you satisfaction in improving your crop quality. The insect pressure I have seen attack the weeds instead of the vines. This was also only possible once we added beneficial bacteria and fungi to the soil,worked with cover crops etc,I also do Soil Health analysis through Brookside Laboratories and that helps a lot to see what is required
I think you missed the point of the article.
You seem to be using brix to measure high sugar content, which is good when growing grapes and plumbs. And yes, brix works for that.
The problem is that people are using brix to measure things like vitamin content. They think a high brix is a healthier food – it is not. It just has more sugar.
I never said brix does not work – when used correctly.
Brix measurement is not a myth. Maybe for a human but definitely not for an animal. Follow my cattle into a new paddock you will get a big supervise on how superior they are in finding the best plants to graze. same goes for hogs and chickens. Yes it can be faked but a animal by instinctively knows what is best.
I never said Brix measurement is a myth.
What I said is it does not measure nutrient density.
I don’t see how the fact that animals can find better food, has anything to do with Brix?
So what is the best way to measure nutrient density as an indicator of highly nutritious food?
First you have to define what you mean by “highly nutritious”. Then labs can test for your criteria. Gardeners can’t do the testing.
“In the home garden there is no good reason to measure brix”? Apparently your agenda from the start was to discredit brix. Measuring brix can be a very valuable tool for the home gardener. If you measure the brix of your kale in your garden and it is “1” you know you have a problem, you can then try some foliar sprays of various mineral mixes and then test the brix again in an hour. If the brix goes up the plant is photosynthesising better and you know the plant may be deficient in those minerals. This is just one way brix readings can benefit the home gardener who can’t afford a $75 plant sap analysis. If you did a little research you would also find some extremely influential people in the agriculture field (like John Kempf with Advancing Eco Agriculture) that find brix readings a valuable tool. I do agree with you that there is some misinformation out there about brix but you are also adding to that misinformation. Your statement about adding sugar to water and nutrition is silly because when a plant produces more sugars it is photosynthesising better and with it comes all the other nutrients as well not just sugars.
1) Why is a value of 1 a problem? And what exactly is the problem?
2) If you can foliar feed and have higher readings in an hour – do you really think that vegetable is more nutritious? Give a reference that supports this position.
3) Photosynthesis produces sugar – it does not produce the other nutrients. So, no other nutrients don’t come with it.
Thanks once again for dispelling another myth. I enjoy every article and your book on myths.
Thanks for wading through all the muck to get to the truth of the matter. As always, great article.
Perhaps it would be less confusing to say that the device measures “dissolved solids or solutes” rather than saying “solids”. As usual a wonderful article. I especially liked how you referred to other more detailed studies that showed no meaningful correlation between high brix numbers and high calcium.
The term “dissolved solids” is not my term, but part of the proper definition.
Brix measurements do help a fruit growers determine harvest time by reflecting sugar levels in the fruit. I have not found any other use for this tool in food production.
good job using factual insight into the concept and workings of the sensor to explain intelligent interpretation. It is unfortunate but many folks have no scientific understanding or even practical understanding for how technology works. I have explained similar misunderstandings for the workings of a CO2 meter(indoor air quality assessment) where a poster inferred it indicates that organic vapor increases the CO2 when the meter reacts to it. The meter just reads what IR light is absorbed in a certain band, regardless of constituent.
Excellent and informative post, Robert! It’s good to see you chipping away at this myth. It’s fairly common among gardeners that I interact with.