Hydroponic NFT-Based Indoor Farming of Red and Green Lettuce Microgreens in Response to Artificial Lighting

Comparative analysis of red and green lettuce microgreens under different artificial LED lighting conditions

“…The enhanced plant height and overall growth under white light compared to blue and red light may be due to its broader spectrum, offering a wider range of wavelengths for photosynthesis and growth. Sinaga et al (2023) found that red light diminishes overall plant performance except the plant elongation which confirms our work. This could be due to red light predominantly activates the phytochrome system, stimulating elongation through the promotion of cell elongation processes Trivellini et al, 2023).…”

“…This suggests that red light may promote elongation of the plants, overall growth is compromised, especially evident in red lettuce, where several parameters exhibit minimal values (Figure 1 and Table 1). Sinaga et al (2023) find boosted plant height (2.80 ± 0.51 cm) applying white light on green and led lettuce than blue and red light. The enhanced plant height and overall growth under white light compared to blue and red light may be due to its broader spectrum, offering a wider range of wavelengths for photosynthesis and growth.…”

“…Chlorophyll, a photosynthetic pigment, promotes increased metabolite production in plants, thereby increasing photosynthesis activity (Saleem & Muhammaf, 2019). Previous investigations have revealed varying chlorophyll concentrations produced by different LEDs (Sinaga et al, 2023). The LEDs utilized in this study resulted in variable chlorophyll concentrations for both lettuce species.…”

“…with beneficial phenolic compounds (Mampholo et al, 2016;Sinaga et al, 2023). Lettuce microgreens also contains beneficial substances such as flavonoids, β-carotene, and chlorophyll, all of which contribute significantly to the diet's antioxidant properties and nutritional value (Martínez-Ispizua et al, 2022;Sinaga et al, 2023).…”

“…Both red (R) and blue (B) wavelengths play significant roles in plant growth and development, primarily by influencing photosynthetic pigment absorption and carbon assimilation, while also impacting plant architecture and development . White LED lighting influences the fresh weight of lettuce plants (Lu et al, 2019) and also promotes plant growth development as well as different necessary pigments (Sinaga et al, 2023). While numerous studies have investigated the effects of LED lighting on the growth and development of various crops, relatively limited research has focused specifically on red and green lettuce microgreens.…”