Blue Light-emitting Diode Light Irradiation of Seedlings Improves Seedling Quality and Growth after Transplanting in Red Leaf Lettuce

By M. Johkan, K. Shoji, F. Goto, S. Hashida, T. Yoshihara. 2010

592 citations recorded by the source corpus.

In this study, we determined the effects of raising seedlings with different light spectra such as with blue, red, and blue + red light-emitting diode (LED) lights on seedling quality and yield of red leaf lettuce plants. The light treatments we used were applied for a period of 1 week and consisted of 100 μmol·m -2 ·s -1 of blue light, simultaneous irradiation with 50 μmol·m -2 ·s 1 of blue light and 50 μmol·m -2 ·s -1 of red light, and 100 μmol·m -2 ·s -1 of red light. At the end of the light treatment, that is 17 days after sowing (DAS), the leaf area and shoot fresh weight (FW) of the lettuce seedlings treated with red light increased by 33% and 25%, respectively, and the dry weight of the shoots and roots of the lettuce seedlings treated with blue-containing LED lights increased by greater than 29% and greater than 83% compared with seedlings grown under a white fluorescent lamp (FL). The shoot/root ratio and specific leaf area of plants irradiated with blue-containing LED lights decreased. At 45 DAS, higher leaf areas and FWs were obtained in lettuce plants treated with blue-containing LED lights. The total chlorophyll (Chl) contents in lettuce plants treated with blue-containing and red lights were less than that of lettuce plants treated with FL, but the Chl a/b ratio and carotenoid content increased under blue-containing LED lights. Polyphenol contents and the total antioxidant status (TAS) were greater in lettuce seedlings treated with blue-containing LED lights than in those treated with FL at 17 DAS. The higher polyphenol contents and TAS in lettuce seedlings at 17 DAS decreased in lettuce plants at 45 DAS. In conclusion, our results indicate that raising seedlings treated with blue light promoted the growth of lettuce plants after transplanting. This is likely because of high shoot and root biomasses, a high content of photosynthetic pigments, and high antioxidant activities in the lettuce seedlings before transplanting. The compact morphology of lettuce seedlings treated with blue LED light would be also useful for transplanting.

Subfields: Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8ad38a70131db1d598551c17919d215712b5b900

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Citations in the corpus

• The Effect of Blue-light-emitting Diodes on Antioxidant Properties and Resistance to Botrytis cinerea in Tomato (2013, background): “[33], in which the content of polyphenols and antioxidant activity were shown to be greatly increased in lettuce seedlings treated with blue LED light.”
• The effects of light-emitting diode lighting on greenhouse plant growth and quality (2013, background): “Blue LEDs (440−476 nm), used alone or in combination with red LEDs, caused higher chlorophyll ratio in Chinese cabbage plants (Mizuno et al. 2011, Li et al. 2012); stimulated biomass accumulation in lettuce (Johkan et al. 2010) and Chinese cabbage plants (Li et al. 2012).”
• Blue LED light enhances growth, phytochemical contents, and antioxidant enzyme activities of Rehmannia glutinosa cultured in vitro (2015, background): “Additional key words: antioxidant potential, light emitting diodes, metabolite enhancement, secondary metabolites”
• Impact of light-emitting diode irradiation on photosynthesis, phytochemical composition and mineral element content of lettuce cv. Grizzly (2017, background): “Johkan et al. (2010) concluded that the antioxidant activities of lettuce seedlings treated with blue LED lights were higher than those grown under fluorescent and red lights.”
• Effect of Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) on the Quality of Fruits and Vegetables During Postharvest Period: a Review (2020, background): “…(Solanum Lycopersicum), Chinese kale (Brassica sp.), Chinese cabbage (Brassica napus L.), and pea (Pisum sativum L.), during storage as a result of ROS-scavenging enzymes, DPPH free radicals, β-carotene, and glucosinolates (Hee-Sun Kook 2013; Johkan et al. 2010; Ki Lee et al. 2016; Wu et al. 2007).”