EFFECTS OF LIGHT QUALITY AND PHOTOSYNTHETIC PHOTON FLUX ON GROWTH AND CAROTENOID PIGMENTS IN SPINACH (SPINACIA OLERACEA L.)

We investigated the effects of light quality and photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) on spinach biomass production and carotenoid pigments.
We showed that, with a PPF of 300 μmol m^-2 s^-1, white and/or red fluorescent lamps promoted higher dry mass accumulation in 4 spinach cultivars than did a blue fluorescent lamp.
By contrast, with a PPF of 100 μmol m^-2 s^-1, the effect of light quality on dry mass accumulation was not significant.
The leaf blade dry mass (%) was higher than the leaf stalk dry mass (%) for all treatments used.
Light quality and PPF significantly affected β-carotene and lutein concentrations of spinach on a fresh and dry mass basis.
We further showed that, with a PPF of 300 μmol m^-2 s^-1, applying a blue fluorescent lamp significantly promoted β-carotene and lutein concentrations of spinach on a fresh, and also a dry mass basis.
Our results suggest that spinach biomass production and β-carotene and lutein concentrations strongly depend on the PPF. Furthermore, light quality plays a vital role when the PPF is high, but has little effect when the PPF is low.

VI International Symposium on Light in Horticulture

J. Li, S. Hikosaka, E. Goto

biomass, β-carotene, cultivar, irradiation level, lutein

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.907.12