PDF Publication Title:
Text from PDF Page: 001
horticulturae Review Effects of Light Quality on Growth and Phytonutrient Accumulation of Herbs under Controlled Environments Haijie Dou 1, Genhua Niu 2,*, Mengmeng Gu 3 and Joseph G. Masabni 4 1 2 3 Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A & M University, 1380 A & M Circle, El Paso, TX 79927, USA; haijiedou@tamu.edu Texas A & M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at El Paso, 1380 A & M Circle, El Paso, TX 79927, USA Texas A & M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA; mgu@tamu.edu 4 jmasabni@tamu.edu Texas A & M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Overton, 1710 FM 3053 N, Overton, TX 75684, USA; * Correspondence: gniu@ag.tamu.edu; Tel.: +1-915-859-9111 Academic Editor: Douglas D. Archbold Received: 10 March 2017; Accepted: 28 May 2017; Published: 1 June 2017 Abstract: In recent years, consumption of herb products has increased in daily diets, contributing to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, chronic diseases, and certain types of cancer owing to high concentrations of phytonutrients such as essential oils and phenolic compounds. To meet the increasing demand for high quality herbs, controlled environment agriculture is an alternative and a supplement to field production. Light is one of the most important environmental factors influencing herb quality including phytonutrient content, in addition to effects on growth and development. The recent development and adoption of light-emitting diodes provides opportunities for targeted regulation of growth and phytonutrient accumulation by herbs to optimize productivity and quality under controlled environments. For most herb species, red light supplemented with blue light significantly increased plant yield. However, plant yield decreased when the blue light proportion (BP) reached a threshold, which varied among species. Research has also shown that red, blue, and ultraviolet (UV) light enhanced the concentration of essential oils and phenolic compounds in various herbs and improved antioxidant capacities of herbs compared with white light or sunlight, yet these improvement effects varied among species, compounds, and light treatments. In addition to red and blue light, other light spectra within the photosynthetically active region—such as cyan, green, yellow, orange, and far-red light—are absorbed by photosynthetic pigments and utilized in leaves. However, only a few selected ranges of light spectra have been investigated, and the effects of light quality (spectrum distribution of light sources) on herb production are not fully understood. This paper reviews how light quality affected the growth and phytonutrient accumulation of both culinary and medicinal herbs under controlled environments, and discusses future research opportunities to produce high quantity and quality herbs. Keywords: light spectrum; photosynthesis; essential oils; phenolic compounds; antioxidant activity 1. Introduction With rising awareness of health benefits, people are consuming more fresh herbs or taking dietary herbal supplements, among other self-care options, as medicinal alternatives [1]. According to a recent report by Global Industry Analysts, the market for herb products (fresh herbs, herbal materials, herbal preparations, and finished herbal products) is substantial and the global herbal supplement market will reach $107 billion by 2017 [2,3]. For example, over 100 million Europeans are current herb-product Horticulturae 2017, 3, 36; doi:10.3390/horticulturae3020036 www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturaePDF Image | Light Quality on Growth and Phytonutrient Accumulation of Herbs
PDF Search Title:
Light Quality on Growth and Phytonutrient Accumulation of HerbsOriginal File Name Searched:
horticulturae-03-00036.pdfDIY PDF Search: Google It | Yahoo | Bing
Cruise Ship Reviews | Luxury Resort | Jet | Yacht | and Travel Tech More Info
Cruising Review Topics and Articles More Info
Software based on Filemaker for the travel industry More Info
The Burgenstock Resort: Reviews on CruisingReview website... More Info
Resort Reviews: World Class resorts... More Info
The Riffelalp Resort: Reviews on CruisingReview website... More Info
CONTACT TEL: 608-238-6001 Email: greg@cruisingreview.com (Standard Web Page)