Abstract
Basil suffers from chilling injury (CI) when stored at temperatures below 10–12 °C which seems related to the imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants. We hypothesized that increased light intensity applied shortly before harvest (EOP, End-Of-Production) increases nutritional value i.e. carbohydrates and antioxidants and could improve the chilling tolerance. Two basil cultivars were grown in a vertical farming set-up at a light intensity of 150 µmol m−2 s−1. During the last 5 days of growth, EOP light treatments ranging from 50 to 600 µmol m−2 s−1 were applied. After harvest the leaves were stored at 4 or 12 °C in darkness. Higher EOP light intensity increased the antioxidant (total ascorbic acid, rosmarinic acid) and carbohydrate contents at harvest. During storage antioxidants decreased more rapidly at 4 than at 12 °C. However, increased EOP light intensity did not alleviate chilling symptoms suggesting a minor role of antioxidants studied against chilling stress.
Highlights
The term chilling injury (CI) is used to describe physiological dis orders in plants or plant products due to exposure to low-temperatures above the freezing temperature
High light increased the antioxidant content. Such an improvement in nutritional status is in line with results from Woltering and Witkowska (2016), Zhou et al, (2012), and Min et al (2021) in lettuce who found that an increase in EOP light levels improved nutritional quality
Our results indicate a possible competition between the rosmarinic and chicoric acid production where rosmarinic acid gained most of the available carbon, indicating that their ratio can change with changing growth conditions
Summary
The term chilling injury (CI) is used to describe physiological dis orders in plants or plant products due to exposure to low-temperatures above the freezing temperature. In plants and plant products of sub tropical and tropical origin CI may occur following exposure to tem peratures below 10–12 ◦C (Lyons, 1973). Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is a herb of tropical origin and when it is exposed to chilling temperatures brown spots develop in the interveinal areas after which black necrotic lesions appear. The severity of the chilling injury depends on the duration and temperature during growth or storage. Often fresh basil is transported together with other herbs and leafy vegetables that greatly benefit from temperatures down to 0 ◦C. Such transport and storage conditions, are unfavorable for basil leading to severe losses
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