Recipient Organization
CONNECTICUT AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
PO BOX 1106
NEW HAVEN,CT 06504
Performing Department
Forestry & Horticulture
Non Technical Summary
There are more than 50 growers in Connecticut who use greenhouses for vegetable production. Over the last 20 years, there has been a resurgence of vegetable production in greenhouses and high tunnels, related to an increase in direct retail to consumers from farm stands. Vegetable producers would like to know the benefit to human nutrition of the crops they grow. They would be eager to adopt practices that would enhance nutritional benefit, if this translated to increased interest and income from Connecticut consumers. By manipulating the plant environment, it is possible to increase the production and/or the quality of specific compounds important for the nutritional or industrial value of specific plants. Research in this area has the potential to significantly increase the economic returns for greenhouse operations involved in vegetable production. However, practical information is limited on manipulating metabolites of value to human nutrition as affected by environmental conditions and cultural systems and practices. Lettuce or salad greens will be grown in water solution. The rate of plant growth, appearance and quality at harvest, and tissue composition will be measured and related to changes in light, temperature, and nutrient solution composition. The experimental results will be simulated with plant physiology-based mathematical models. This modeling effort will increase understanding of the internal processes that affect plant composition. IMPACTS Improved nutrient delivery systems with recycling of nutrient solutions that maintain optimum plant health and quality will minimize fertilizer inputs and the impact on the environment. Improved value of vegetables, in terms of human nutrition, will increase cash value and desirability of locally grown crops produced in greenhouses.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
OBJECTIVES Develop greenhouse environment and fertilizer protocols to maintain high nutrition values of vegetable crops grown in various seasons of the year. Determine the variation in tissue metabolite concentrations as a function of time of day, and define the time of harvest that optimizes human nutrition value. Develop a simplified model of metabolism within lettuce plants that can predict the season and diurnal variation in metabolite concentrations OUTPUTS Evaluate environmental control methods that enhance the nutritional values of certain greenhouse vegetable crops. Report at growers meetings on the daily and seasonal variation in composition of greenhouse vegetables grown in Connecticut.
Project Methods
Lettuce or salad greens will be grown in water solution. The rate of plant growth, appearance and quality at harvest, and tissue composition will be measured and related to changes in light, temperature, and nutrient solution composition. The experimental results will be simulated with plant physiology-based mathematical models. This modeling effort will increase understanding of the internal processes that affect plant composition. It will also have the power to predict combinations of environment and fertilizer that will optimize tissue composition with respect to human nutrition. A complete dataset of lettuce growth and composition throughout the season of the year will be a thorough test of the model. The model should be able to predict both this seasonal variation, as well as the effect of nitrate withdrawal in each season. Furthermore plant harvests in both morning and afternoon will define the diurnal variation in metabolite concentrations of lettuce. These variations are likely to change with season.