Examination of Spectral Properties of Medicinal Plant Leaves Grown in Different Lighting Conditions Based on Mint Cultivation

Abstract

Cultivation in controlled environmental conditions can provide good quality medicinal herbs with consistent properties. A sensing system that can determine the contents of medicinal substances in plants using spectral characteristics of leaves would be a valuable tool. Viability of such sensing approach for mint had to be confirmed experimentally, as no data correlating contents of medicinal substances with spectral characteristics of leaves are available, to the best of authors’ knowledge. In the first stage, presented in this paper, the influence of lighting on mint (Mentha rotundifolia) grown on a small hydroponic plantation was studied. Spectral characteristics of leaves were recorded by a spectrophotometer and colorimetric analysis was used to investigate the relationship between these characteristics and the spectrum of lighting. Dry mass yield was measured to test its dependence on the lighting. Dependence of chromaticity of leaves on the spectrum of light used in the cultivation was confirmed. Averaged spectra of leaves are distinguishable using a spectrophotometer and—in most cases—by a human observer. A partial correlation is observed between dry mass yield and the spectrum of lighting. Obtained results justify further research into the correlation between lighting and the contents of biological substances in medicinal plants using spectral characteristics of leaves.

Impact of Growth Sites on the Phenolic Contents and Antioxidant Activities of Three Algerian Mentha Species (M. pulegium L., M. rotundifolia (L.) Huds., and M. spicata L.)

“…The influence of numerous cultivation systems, including intercropping, irrigation, herbicides, fertilization, organic farming, or in vitro growth, on the yield and quality of various peppermints has been demonstrated (Benlarbi et al, 2014;Oroian et al, 2017). Lighting conditions are particularly important, depending on the light spectrum, as shown for M. rotundifolia leaves (Feldzensztajn et al, 2021) and nychthemeron (Clark and Menary, 1980). Date of plantation and harvesting-time also impact the essential oil composition of Mentha × piperita L. and Mentha arvensis L., their spring cultivation resulting in higher yields.…”

Research on the reform of the modularized curriculum of “Cultivation Technology of Northern Taoist Medicinal Herbs” in the context of the new version of GAP

“…Cultivation of medicinal plants is an applied discipline to study the growth, development, yield, and quality patterns of medicinal plants and their relationship with environmental conditions, and on this basis, to achieve stable yield, high quality, and high efficiency through cultivation technical measures [1][2][3]. Cultivation measures have a direct impact on the quality and yield of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), and modernization of TCM cultivation research and large-scale production are the prerequisites for promoting the modernization and internationalization of TCMs [4][5][6].…”

Examination of thyme leaves grown under different spectra

“…Light intensity, spectrum, and irradiance were measured and recorded using a portable spectrometer GL Optic Spectis 1.0 (Puszczykowo, Poland) with dedicated software. Finally, colorimetric properties were measured using a dedicated setup consisting of a reference light source and a high-end spectrometer Konica Minolta CS-2000 (Konica Minolta Sensing Europe B.V., Nieuwegein, the Netherlands) [11].…”