EFFECT OF UV-C TREATMENT ON PLANT GROWTH AND NUTRIENT CONTENTS

In the present study, the effect of UV-C radiation on plants was investigated. Raphanus sativus var. sativus (radish), Lactuca sativa (lettuce) and Spinacia oleracea (spinach) plants were irradiated once with the accumulated UV-C of 0, 0.8 and 1.6 kJ m^-2 (5 min irradiation) by a germicidal lamp.
The radish plant was subjected to the UV-C treatment after it germinated for 4 weeks, and lettuce and spinach plant were subjected to the UV-C treatment after they germinated for 6 weeks.
The plants were harvested a week after the UV-C treatment.
Visible injury was observed on leaves of lettuce and spinach.
The fresh weight and the expansion width of the lettuce leaves decreased at UV-C radiation of 1.6 kJ m^-2. The fresh weight and the expansion width of radish leaves increased at UV-C radiation of 0.8 kJ m^-2 compared to the control plants, but the fresh weight of radish roots decreased at UV-C radiation of 1.6 kJ m^-2. Amino acid and γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) contents in lettuce and spinach were enhanced with the increase of UV-C radiation compared with the control.
These contents in the root of the UV-C treated radish increased at 0.8 kJ m^-2. The anti-oxidative function in spinach plants was enhanced by UV-C radiation.

VI International Symposium on Light in Horticulture

C. Kobashigawa, K. Tamaya, T. Shimomachi

amino acid, γ-amino butyric acid, anti-oxidant, UV-C

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.907.36