scholarly journals Influence of Light Spectra on the Production of Cannabinoids

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-110
Author(s):  
Pascal Amrein ◽  
Stefan Rinner ◽  
Tindaro Pittorino ◽  
Joan Espel ◽  
David Schmidmayr

In recent years, more attention has been paid to cannabis from both medical and political points of view. This study investigates the influence of 5 different light spectra on the active substance content in THC-poor hemp of the Alessia chemotype II variety. The focus is on comparing conventional growing under metal halide lamps with growing under high-pressure sodium (HPS) vapor lamps with regard to different spectra of LED lighting modules. Growing was carried out in 10 growing boxes under controlled and mostly identical conditions for all boxes. The photoperiod during the vegetative phase was 18 h light and photosynthetic photon flux density ∼520 μmol⋅m<sup>−2</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>. The flowering phase was 12 h light and ∼540 μmol⋅m<sup>−2</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>. During the experiment, CO<sub>2</sub>, temperature, and humidity were measured and logged. Additionally, weekly measurements of chlorophyll, electric conductivity of the fertilizer, activity measurement (salt content) of the soil, and pH value of the soil were checked. The content of cannabinoids was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Plant height and growth were monitored during the whole experiment by cameras taking pictures every 30 min and loading them onto a cloud storage platform. Cannabinoid content was measured using HPLC. Plant wet weight was determined at the end of the experiment and showed that plants under the high pressure lamp treatment had less flower weight than those under the LED treatment. In conclusion, it could be shown that certain LED spectra can considerably increase the amount of cannabinoids with respect to conventional illumination (HPS).

HortScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave Llewellyn ◽  
Katherine Schiestel ◽  
Youbin Zheng

A greenhouse study was undertaken to investigate whether light-emitting diode (LED) technology can be used to replace high-pressure sodium (HPS) lighting for cut gerbera production during Canada’s traditional supplemental lighting (SL) season (November to March). The study was carried out at the University of Guelph’s research greenhouse, using concurrent replications of SL treatments within the same growing environment. LED (85% red, 15% blue) and HPS treatment plots were set up to provide equal amounts of supplemental photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) at bench level. This setup was used to assess the production of three cultivars of cut gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii H. Bolus ex Hook.f): Acapulco, Heatwave, and Terra Saffier. There were no treatment differences in SL intensity, with average SL photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) and daily light integral (DLI) of 55.9 µmol·m−2·s−1 and 2.3 mol·m−2·d−1, respectively. Flowers harvested from the LED treatment had a 1.9% larger flower diameter in ‘Acapulco’; 4.2% shorter and 3.8% longer stems in ‘Heatwave’ and ‘Terra Saffier’, respectively; and 7.7% and 8.6% higher fresh weights for ‘Acapulco’ and ‘Terra Saffier’, respectively, compared with flowers harvested from the HPS treatment. There were no differences in accumulated total or marketable flower harvests for any of the cultivars. The vase life of ‘Acapulco’ flowers grown under the LED treatment was 2.7 d longer than those grown under the HPS treatment, but there were no SL treatment effects on water uptake for any of the cultivars during the vase life trials. There were no SL treatment effects on specific leaf area for any of the cultivars. There were only minimal treatment differences in leaf, soil, and air temperatures. Cut gerbera crops grown with under LED SL had equivalent or better production and crop quality metrics compared with crops grown under HPS SL.


1984 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 773-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. ANN CLARK ◽  
M. D. DEVINE

The growth and development of six plant species were measured under a standardized photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) supplied by fluorescent, metal halide, or high-pressure sodium lamps. Overall, plant growth and seed yield were in the order of high-pressure sodium > metal halide > fluorescent. Although the units tested were unable to supply a uniform, high flux density, acceptable plant growth was achieved under the compromise arrangements used.Key words: Fluorescent, metal halide, high pressure sodium, supplementary lighting


HortScience ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshio Shibuya ◽  
Ryosuke Endo ◽  
Yuki Kitamura ◽  
Yoshiaki Kitaya ◽  
Nobuaki Hayashi

To evaluate the effect of fluorescent lamps with a high red:far-red (R:FR) light on the potential photosynthesis of transplants, we investigated the photosynthetic light responses of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings grown under fluorescent lamps with high R:FR light (FLH) and compared them with the responses of the seedlings grown under metal-halide lamps (ML) that provided a spectrum similar to that of natural light and under a fluorescent lamp with low R:FR light (FLL). The seedlings were grown under FLH (R:FR = 7.0), ML (R:FR = 1.2), or FLL (R:FR = 1.1) at a photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 350 μmol·m−2·s−1. The gross photosynthetic rate (Pg), quantum yield of photosystem II (ΦPSII), and photosynthetic electron transfer rate (ETR) of the foliage leaves were then evaluated at PPFDs ranging from 0 to 1000 μmol·m−2·s−1. The photosynthetic light response of FLH seedlings was similar to those of sun leaves, and the responses of ML and FLL seedlings were similar to those of shade leaves. The Pg, ETR, and ΦPSII of FLH seedlings at PPFD of 1000 μmol·m−2·s−1 was 1.38, 1.32, and 1.28 times, respectively, those of ML seedlings, and was 1.40, 1.23, and 1.22 times, respectively, those of FLL seedlings. The Pg was closely correlated with ETR in each treatment. FLH seedlings had thicker leaf and greater chlorophyll content per leaf area than ML and FLL seedlings. The greater Pg of FLH seedlings than in the other two groups of seedlings at high PPFD was probably the result of the improved ETR resulting from physiological and morphological changes in response to the high R:FR light.


HortScience ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 388-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Poel ◽  
Erik S. Runkle

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have the potential to replace high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps as the main delivery method of supplemental lighting (SL) in greenhouses. However, few studies have compared growth under the different lamp types. We grew seedlings of geranium (Pelargonium ×hortorum), pepper (Capsicum annuum), petunia (Petunia ×hybrida), snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus), and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) at 20 °C under six lighting treatments: five that delivered a photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 90 μmol·m−2·s−1 from HPS lamps (HPS90) or LEDs [four treatments composed of blue (B, 400–500 nm), red (R, 600–700 nm), or white LEDs] and one that delivered 10 μmol·m−2·s−1 from HPS lamps (HPS10), which served as a control with matching photoperiod. Lamps operated for 16 h·d−1 for 14 to 40 days, depending on cultivar and season. The LED treatments defined by their percentages of B, green (G, 500–600 nm), and R light were B10R90, B20R80, B10G5R85, and B15G5R80, whereas the HPS treatments emitted B6G61R33. Seedlings of each cultivar grown under the 90 μmol·m−2·s−1 SL treatments had similar dry shoot weights and all except pepper had a similar plant height, leaf area, and leaf number. After transplant to a common environment, geranium ‘Ringo Deep Scarlet’ and petunia ‘Single Dreams White’ grown under HPS90 flowered 3 days earlier than those grown under HPS10, but flowering time was not different from that in LED treatments. There were no consistent differences in morphology or subsequent flowering among seedlings grown under HPS90 and LED SL treatments. The inclusion of white light in the LED treatments played an insignificant role in growth and development when applied as SL with the background ambient light. The LED fixtures in this study consumed substantially less electricity than the HPS lamps while providing the same PPFD, and seedlings produced were of similar quality, making LEDs a suitable technology option for greenhouse SL delivery.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 344
Author(s):  
Md Momtazur Rahman ◽  
Mikhail Vasiliev ◽  
Kamal Alameh

Manipulation of the LED illumination spectrum can enhance plant growth rate and development in grow tents. We report on the identification of the illumination spectrum required to significantly enhance the growth rate of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) plants in grow tent environments by controlling the LED wavebands illuminating the plants. Since the optimal illumination spectrum depends on the plant type, this work focuses on identifying the illumination spectrum that achieves significant basil biomass improvement compared to improvements reported in prior studies. To be able to optimize the illumination spectrum, several steps must be achieved, namely, understanding plant biology, conducting several trial-and-error experiments, iteratively refining experimental conditions, and undertaking accurate statistical analyses. In this study, basil plants are grown in three grow tents with three LED illumination treatments, namely, only white LED illumination (denoted W*), the combination of red (R) and blue (B) LED illumination (denoted BR*) (relative red (R) and blue (B) intensities are 84% and 16%, respectively) and a combination of red (R), blue (B) and far-red (F) LED illumination (denoted BRF*) (relative red (R), blue (B) and far-red (F) intensities are 79%, 11%, and 10%, respectively). The photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) was set at 155 µmol m−2 s−1 for all illumination treatments, and the photoperiod was 20 h per day. Experimental results show that a combination of blue (B), red (R), and far-red (F) LED illumination leads to a one-fold increase in the yield of a sweet basil plant in comparison with only white LED illumination (W*). On the other hand, the use of blue (B) and red (R) LED illumination results in a half-fold increase in plant yield. Understanding the effects of LED illumination spectrum on the growth of plant sweet basil plants through basic horticulture research enables farmers to significantly improve their production yield, thus food security and profitability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Liu ◽  
Shuo Zhao ◽  
Pengli Li ◽  
Yilu Yin ◽  
Qingliang Niu ◽  
...  

AbstractIn plants, alternative splicing (AS) is markedly induced in response to environmental stresses, but it is unclear why plants generate multiple transcripts under stress conditions. In this study, RNA-seq was performed to identify AS events in cucumber seedlings grown under different light intensities. We identified a novel transcript of the gibberellin (GA)-deactivating enzyme Gibberellin 2-beta-dioxygenase 8 (CsGA2ox8). Compared with canonical CsGA2ox8.1, the CsGA2ox8.2 isoform presented intron retention between the second and third exons. Functional analysis proved that the transcript of CsGA2ox8.1 but not CsGA2ox8.2 played a role in the deactivation of bioactive GAs. Moreover, expression analysis demonstrated that both transcripts were upregulated by increased light intensity, but the expression level of CsGA2ox8.1 increased slowly when the light intensity was >400 µmol·m−2·s−1 PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density), while the CsGA2ox8.2 transcript levels increased rapidly when the light intensity was >200 µmol·m−2·s−1 PPFD. Our findings provide evidence that plants might finely tune their GA levels by buffering against the normal transcripts of CsGA2ox8 through AS.


2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 393-398
Author(s):  
Chang-Chang CHEN ◽  
Kuan-Hung LIN ◽  
Meng-Yuan HUANG ◽  
Wen-Dar HUANG ◽  
Chi-Ming YANG

The objective of this study was to investigate the dynamics of chlorophyll (Chl), biosynthetic intermediates (protoporphyrin IX, magnesium protoporphyrin IX, and protochlorophyllide), degradation intermediates [chlorophyllide (Chlide), pheophytin (Phe), and pheophorbide (Pho)], and carotenoids (Car) in leaves of rice seedlings. Two rice varieties, 'Taichung Shen 10' ('TCS10') and 'IR1552', were grown under different light quality conditions controlled by light emitting diodes (LED). Lighting treatments for rice seedlings were included by red (R), blue (B), green (G), and red + blue (RB), with fluorescent lighting (FL) as the control and photosynthetic photon flux density being set at 105 µmol m-2 s-1. The results show that lower levels of Chl and Car in leaves were detected under G lighting, and light quality did not mediate porphyrins in biosynthetic pathways. Rice seedling leaves took Chl→Phe→Pho and Chl→Chlide→Pho as the major and minor degradation routes, respectively. Furthermore, higher Phe/Chlide ratios were observed under G and FL lighting conditions, indicating that green-enriched environments can up-regulate the minor degradation route in leaves.


2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 2601-2611 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. R. Reverter ◽  
E. P. Sánchez-Cañete ◽  
V. Resco ◽  
P. Serrano-Ortiz ◽  
C. Oyonarte ◽  
...  

Abstract. Two years of continuous measurements of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) using the eddy covariance technique were made over a Mediterranean alpine shrubland. This ecosystem was found to be a net source of CO2 (+ 52 ± 7 g C m−2 and + 48 ± 7 g C m−2 for 2007 and 2008) during the two-year study period. To understand the reasons underlying this net release of CO2 into the atmosphere, we analysed the drivers of seasonal variability in NEE over these two years. We observed that the soil water availability – driven by the precipitation pattern – and the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) are the key factors for understanding both the carbon sequestration potential and the duration of the photosynthetic period during the growing season. Finally, the effects of the self-heating correction to CO2 and H2O fluxes measured with the open-path infrared gas analyser were evaluated. Applying the correction turned the annual CO2 budget in 2007 from a sink (− 135 ± 7 g C m−2) to a source (+ 52 ± 7 g C m−2). The magnitude of this change is larger than reported previously and is shown to be due to the low air density and cold temperatures at this high elevation study site.


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