Heating culture media just by 3°C increases lettuce yields!
April 17, 2024
An innovative approach to cultivate lettuce in plant factories
Researchers from the University of Tokyo, along with Plants Laboratory Inc., the RIKEN CSRS, University of Tsukuba, and the National Institute of Technology, Kisarazu College, investigated the impact of root zone temperature in culture medium on metabolism and growth of hydroponically grown plants under artificial lighting in a plant factory. Hydroponic cultivation is a technique for growing plants without soil. Instead, solutions into which fertilizer is dissolved, referred to as culture media, are used. Most plant factories with artificial light adopt the circulation system where culture media circulate between cultivation beds and tanks. In this study, the researchers found that raising the medium temperature in the tank by 3°C from room temperature facilitated plant growth and increased functional components such as carotenoids and vitamin C in leaf. They also found that heating the cultivation medium increased the amount of minerals such as magnesium and iron in leaves. These findings suggest that heating cultivation media boosts the uptake of nutrients from roots, increasing the levels of various amino acids in the roots and activating root metabolism. Thus, this process is considered to improve the growth of hydroponic lettuce and increase its functional components. The results of this research could help the emerging plant factory industry to develop new cultivation techniques that enhance crop productivity and levels of functional components.
- Original article
- Frontiers in Plant Science doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1352331
- S. Hayashi, C. P. Levine, Y. Wakabayashi, M. Usui, A. Yukawa, Y. Ohmori, M. Kusano, M. Kobayashi, T. Nishizawa, I. Kurimoto, S. Kawabata, W. Yamori,
- "Raising root zone temperature improves plant productivity and metabolites in hydroponic lettuce production".
- Contact
- Miyako Kusano
Senior Visiting Scientist
Metabolomics Research Group / Mass Spectrometry and Microscopy Unit
