CHANGES IN LEAF COMPOSITION OF CHICORY LEAVES DURING LIGHT EXPOSURE

Chicory is a white-yellow vegetable, produced and stored from light (etiolated material). If endives are exposed to light they start greening.

The cultivars Final and Focus were grown on hydroponics and, after harvest, exposed to white fluorescent light over a period up to 48 hours.
Leaf samples were taken for cholorophyll and fatty acid analysis.

cholorophyll content starts to increase within hours after light exposed showing a lag pahse of 4 to 5 hours for both cultivars.
Difference in cholorophyll is observed between the outer and inner leaves.
After a dark storage (cv Final) the cholorophyll content decreased.

At the beginning of the exposure (until about 8 hours), fatty acids’ levels had a tendency to decreased in the outer and to increases in the inner ones (cv Focus). In the outer leaves, after 12 hours light, C18:2 and C18:3 fatty acid showed an increase in their levels, especially the last one.
An increase in the C18:2 and C18:3 level was observed in the inner leaves up to chlorophyll levels of 20μ/gfw.
At this level of chlorophyll, fatty acids drop in the inner leaves.
Once the chloroplast formation becomes strong, the C18:3 level becomes high in the outside leaves indicating the formatioin of glycolipids.

Endives stored for one week (after a light exposure) showed an increase in fatty acid content in response to light.
This opens new possibilities to treat the endives for a better storage.

XXV International Horticultural Congress, Part 4: Culture Techniques with Special Emphasis on Environmental Implications

E. Krebsky, M. De Proft, J.M.C. Geuns

Cichorium intrybus, chicory, cholorophyll, etiolated, fatty acids, light

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2000.514.18