Articles
In-store cultivation system preserves higher VOC emission of sweet basil leaves compared with conventional refrigerated storage
Article number
1364_1
Pages
1 – 10
Language
English
Abstract
The quantity and composition of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from plants are affected by various biotic and abiotic stresses.
This means that the monitoring of plant physiological conditions is possible by measuring the VOCs emission from the plant.
Therefore, the VOC measurement techniques can be applied for the evaluation of the changes in the freshness of vegetables after harvest.
Preservation of VOCs emission property of aromatic herbs is quite important to meet the consumers demands of high-quality herbs.
The farmbox®, which has been developed by a startup company of Farmship Inc., is a cultivation system of aromatic herbs in store to keep the freshness until herbs are purchased by the consumer.
In the farmbox®, the aromatic herbs are irradiated by white LEDs at the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 180 μmol m‑2 s‑1 and irrigated by the nutrient solution to maintain the minimum growth.
This study investigates the effectiveness of the farmbox® for the preservation of VOCs emission of aromatic herbs during storage in comparison with storage in a conventional refrigerator.
We used sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) grown hydroponically for 23 days and stored in a farmbox® (farmbox® treatment) and refrigerator (control treatment) for one week.
After storage, the whole leaves were cut at the petiole and placed in a separable glass flask, then the VOCs emitted by the whole leaves contained in the air inside the flask were sampled and measured with a gas chromatography-surface acoustic wave (GC-SAW, model 4200). The results prove that the emission of VOCs such as linalool, cineole, and eugenol from the second leaf (upper leaf) was significantly higher in the farmbox® compared with the control treatment.
This result suggested that the farmbox® is an effective tool to maintain the most important aspect of the freshness of aromatic herbs.
This means that the monitoring of plant physiological conditions is possible by measuring the VOCs emission from the plant.
Therefore, the VOC measurement techniques can be applied for the evaluation of the changes in the freshness of vegetables after harvest.
Preservation of VOCs emission property of aromatic herbs is quite important to meet the consumers demands of high-quality herbs.
The farmbox®, which has been developed by a startup company of Farmship Inc., is a cultivation system of aromatic herbs in store to keep the freshness until herbs are purchased by the consumer.
In the farmbox®, the aromatic herbs are irradiated by white LEDs at the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 180 μmol m‑2 s‑1 and irrigated by the nutrient solution to maintain the minimum growth.
This study investigates the effectiveness of the farmbox® for the preservation of VOCs emission of aromatic herbs during storage in comparison with storage in a conventional refrigerator.
We used sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) grown hydroponically for 23 days and stored in a farmbox® (farmbox® treatment) and refrigerator (control treatment) for one week.
After storage, the whole leaves were cut at the petiole and placed in a separable glass flask, then the VOCs emitted by the whole leaves contained in the air inside the flask were sampled and measured with a gas chromatography-surface acoustic wave (GC-SAW, model 4200). The results prove that the emission of VOCs such as linalool, cineole, and eugenol from the second leaf (upper leaf) was significantly higher in the farmbox® compared with the control treatment.
This result suggested that the farmbox® is an effective tool to maintain the most important aspect of the freshness of aromatic herbs.
Authors
N. Sakaguchi, M. Kitajima, Y. Usami, R. Oka, N. Fujiuchi, K. Takayama
Keywords
GC-SAW, plant diagnosis, sweet basil, volatile organic compounds
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