Abstract
Consumers hesitate to purchase field-grown shoot-tops of amaranths in Sri Lanka, citing the low-cleanliness making growers focus on greenhouse farming. However, the photosynthetic and growth variations in relation to the organoleptic preference of the greenhouse-grown amaranths in comparison to field-grown counterparts have not been studied. Also, the species delimits of the amaranths in Sri Lanka have not been identified, limiting our ability to interpret species-specific production characteristics. Thus, we assessed the common types of amaranths under greenhouse and field conditions. The photosynthesis was measured using a MultispeQ device of the PhotosynQ phenomic platform, which records chlorophyll fluorescence-based parameters. The shoot-tops were harvested and prepared as dishes according to the typical recipe for amaranths in Sri Lanka. The dishes were subjected to an organoleptic assessment for the parameters color, aroma, bitterness, texture, and overall taste. The differences in plant and the shoot-top biomass were also assessed. The markers atpB-rbcL, matk-trnT, and ITS were used to define the species delimits. The field-grown and greenhouse-grown amaranths exhibited species/cultivar-specific photosynthetic variations. The texture and overall taste of the dishes were different among greenhouse and field-grown material. The tasters preferred the texture and the overall taste of the greenhouse-grown shoot-tops. The greenhouse-grown plants also yielded higher shoot-top harvests compared to field-grown counterparts. Out of the tested markers, ITS defines the delimits of amaranth species. The higher organoleptic preference, the appreciable yield levels, unique photosynthetic patterns of the greenhouse-grown amaranths, and species definitions provide the much-needed platform for clean shoot-top production guaranteeing the highest end-user trust.
Highlights
Amaranths are a group of plants that complete their life cycle within a short period
A. spinosus is commonly known as TA because of the oppositely arranged strong spines
The field-grown and greenhouse-grown plants showed species/cultivar-specific differences in photosynthesis. It was evident from the analysis of the photosynthetic parameters that total chlorophyll content and ΦNPQ and linear electron flow (LEF) and ΦNO were negatively correlated to each other
Summary
Amaranths are a group of plants that complete their life cycle within a short period. Amaranth belongs to the genus Amaranthus of the family Amaranthaceae, a cosmopolitan plant family that completes its life cycle within a short period [1]. One-third of the plants in the genus Amaranthus are grown to harvest seeds for consumption as “pseudo” cereal or a leafy vegetable (LV) [2]. The other Amaranthus spp. are considered as annual soft weeds. The indigenous people harvest the shoot-tops (i.e., leaves and young stems) to make delicious dishes. Many prefer to pick shoot-tops before the initiation of the terminal inflorescence for highest quality and soft textured tender shoots and leaves for consumption
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