GHG emissions life cycle assessment of an in vitro plant production system of Lavandula multifida

Over the last two decades there was an increase on the production of in vitro plants.
This technique holds much promise for food, agriculture, floriculture, silvilculture and plant biotechnology production systems.
Currently, despite the importance of the in vitro culture, as far as we know, there are no studies on its environmental impact.
Following data analysis considering the production and growth of a model species NDASH Lavandula multifida, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed in order to evaluate the impact of the system, in terms of Global Warming potential, and subsequently strengthen the process for this in vitro production system.
In the present study the impact category used was the global warming potential (gCO₂eq/plant). The functional unit applied was 1 plant of Lavandula multifida, which provides a reference to which the inputs and outputs can be related.
The results show that the LCA methodology is suitable to assess the environmental impact associated with the in vitro plant production.
The impact of the global warming potential (100 years) levels of Lavandula multifida production system was 74.61 g CO₂ eq plant^-1. Taking into consideration LCA, results provide evidence that there is a stronger environmental impact due to the higher energetic costs inherent to the process.

IX International Symposium on In Vitro Culture and Horticultural Breeding

I. Ferreira, H. Sales, B. Rocha, J. Nunes

life cycle assessment, Lavandula multifida, greenhouse gas emissions

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2017.1187.17