The Biometric Parameters of Microgreen Crops Grown under Various Light Conditions

Barbara Frąszczak and Monika Kula-Maximenko
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Barbara Frąszczak: Department of Vegetable Crops, Poznań University of Life Sciences, ul. Dąbrowskiego 159, 60-594 Poznań, Poland
Monika Kula-Maximenko: The Franciszek Górski Institute of Plant Physiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Niezapominajek 21, 30-239 Kraków, Poland

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-10

Abstract: Microgreens are becoming increasingly popular both as horticultural crops and as vegetables consumed by humans. They are classified as foods of high nutritional value. Twenty-eight microgreens crops were grown in a growth chamber under fully controlled conditions in order to determine how different light treatments affected their growth rate. The plants were grown under three light sources emitting red/blue ratios of about 6.7, 0.6, and 1.6 units (Red light, Blue light, and R + B light, respectively). Apart from that, the spectrum contained 10% yellow and orange light and 10% green light. The fresh weight of the plants ranged from 8 (perilla) to 1052 mg (nasturtium), whereas the length ranged for the same plants from 2.0 to 26.2 cm. The nasturtium was particularly strongly distinguished from the other species by the high values of its biometric parameters. The fresh mass of most of the other microgreens ranged from 20 to 100 mg, whereas their height ranged from 5 to 8 cm. Red light caused a significant increase in the fresh and dry weights of more than half of the species. The light spectrum had a lesser influence on the length of the plants. The research results showed considerable differences in the dynamics of growth of commonly cultivated microgreens.

Keywords: LEDs; red light; blue light; functional food (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
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