Abstract
Pure polyethylene (PE) is enriched with several additives to make it a smart application material in protected cultivation, as a cover material for either greenhouses or screenhouses. When this material completely or partially absorbs ultraviolet (UV) solar radiation, then it is called UV blocking material. The current work presents a review on the effects of the UV blocking covering materials on crop growth and development. Despite the passage of several years and the evolution of the design technology of plastic greenhouse covers, UV blocking materials have not ceased to be a rather interesting technique for the protection of several vegetable and ornamental species. Much of the research on UV blocking materials focuses on their indisputable effect on reducing the activity of pests and viral-related diseases, rather than on the effects on the crop physiology itself. In the present paper, representative studies dealing with the effect of the UV blocking materials on the agronomic factors of different crops are presented and discussed. The results reveal that UV blocking materials have mainly positive effects on the different plant physiological functions, such as photosynthesis and transpiration rate, and on growth characteristics, while they might have a negative effect on the production and content of secondary compounds, as anthocyanins and total phenolics.
Highlights
The concern for safer food and environmental protection is increasing among consumers
The main difference between fruits that have been produced under UV exclusion conditions is that they have a significantly lower content of secondary compounds, pigments and phenolics when they compared with that contained in fruits produced under open field conditions [19,24,25,33,43,47,53]
In a study carried out in Germany, a UV open and a UV blocking plexiglass cover were compared in order to investigate their effect on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) growth, and it was found that the hypocotyl length was reduced by 50% under the UV blocking material [41]
Summary
The concern for safer food and environmental protection is increasing among consumers. The production cost of vegetables could be reduced by adopting techniques with limited chemical use and alternative methods for sufficient pests and diseases control. In this direction, the use of UV blocking greenhouse covering materials is aligned with the creation of an unfavorable environment for greenhouse crops’. A significant number of greenhouse growers uses such type of films These materials have several effects on crop growth and development. Plant responses to UVB can be photomorphogenetic and protective [5]
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