Abstract
Microgreen vegetables are nowadays a popular crop mainly produced hydroponically in controlled environments. In soilless culture, plants are produced using inert substrates with various properties. Besides, all the macronutrients and trace elements necessary for plant growth and development are provided in the form of a nutrient solution. It is possible to achieve similar yield and product quality of microgreens by using different substrates and reducing the input of nutrients. Our aim was to test the effect of three substrates (peat, coco coir, and cannabis mat) and three nutrient solution strengths (0, 50, and 100 %; NS0, NS50, and NS100) on the growth and quality of mustard, radish, and pea grown as microgreens in a plant factory with artificial lighting. As a general rule, cannabis mat and/or NS0 led to considerably decelerated growth of all microgreens. The antioxidant content including the amount of phenolics showed opposite trends compared to the yield of each microgreen. The hydroponic substrate showed species or variety dependency, especially in the phytochemical compounds. To conclude, treatments including NS100, as well as NS50 with peat showed promising results for high yield, relatively high nutritional value, while also saving the most from the use of fertilizers during microgreen vegetable production.
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