Ultraviolet Radiation Management in Greenhouse to Improve Red Lettuce Quality and Yield

Ioannis Lycoskoufis, Angeliki Kavga (), Georgios Koubouris and Dimitrios Karamousantas
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Ioannis Lycoskoufis: Department of Agriculture, Kalamata Campus, University of Peloponnese, Antikalamos, GR-24100 Kalamta, Greece
Angeliki Kavga: Department of Agriculture, University of Patras, GR-26504 Patras, Greece
Georgios Koubouris: ELGO-DIMITRA, Institute of Olive Tree, Subtropical Crops and Viticulture, Leoforos Karamanli 167, GR-73134 Chania, Greece
Dimitrios Karamousantas: Department of Agriculture, Kalamata Campus, University of Peloponnese, Antikalamos, GR-24100 Kalamta, Greece

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: The intensity of ultraviolet (UV) radiation affects the yield and quality of red lettuce. The current study aimed to develop a UV management system in a greenhouse to achieve high yield and quality in red lettuce production. The study consisted of two experiments. In the first experiment, the effects of the different UV transparencies of the plastic materials covering the greenhouse on plant growth and the concentration of antioxidants in red lettuce were studied. For this purpose, two greenhouses were covered with polyethene of different transparencies to UV radiation. One greenhouse was covered with a common type of polyethene transparent in a large spectrum of UV radiation (UV-open), while the second greenhouse was covered with polyethene untransparent to ultraviolet radiation (UV-block). The plants were grown in a deep flotation hydroponic system. At the end of the cultivation, plant growth measurements, leaf colour measurements, and the determination of antioxidant components’ concentration were carried out. Red lettuce plants harvested 42 days after planting had an average head weight 42% greater in the UV-block greenhouse compared to plants grown in the UV-open greenhouse. However, the red leaf colour of plants in the UV-block greenhouse lagged significantly compared to that in the UV-open greenhouse. Moreover, the total phenolic content, the total flavonoid content, and the antioxidant capacity of the lettuce leaves in the UV-block greenhouse were significantly lower compared to the corresponding values of the plants in the UV-open greenhouse. During the second experiment, a new cultivation system of red lettuce, which combined a UV-block polyethene film as a greenhouse cover and a pre-harvested supplemental UV light, was tested. For this purpose, various doses of supplemental UV lighting were tested in the UV-block greenhouse for ten days prior to harvest. From these tests, it emerged that applying supplemental UV lighting with a dose of 425 kJ m −2 d −1 for ten days before harvest produces red lettuces of the same quality as those produced in a UV-open greenhouse. This technique of growing red lettuce increases its yield by 30% without a negative effect on the quality of the product.

Keywords: greenhouse cover; leaf colour; UV radiation; antioxidant capacity; supplemental light (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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