Production and photosynthetic activity of Mimosa Verde and Mimosa Roxa lettuce in two farming systems

Aline Mabel Rosa,Hizumi Lua Sarti Seó,Nathalie Vieira Foz,Tatiane Carine Da Silva,Juliana Bernardi Ogliari,Rosete Pescador,Jorge Luiz Barcelos Oliveira,Maila Berté Volpato

doi:10.1590/0034-737x201461040007

Aline Mabel Rosa, Hizumi Lua Sarti Seó + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-737x201461040007

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Journal: Revista Ceres	Publication Date: Aug 1, 2014
Citations: 17	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Abstract

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is the most commonly consumed leaf vegetable in the Brazilian diet, and it is a good source of vitamins and minerals. It is widely grown in the conventional farming system. However, the hydroponic farming system has been gaining importance in the market, wining confidence from consumers, who are becoming increasingly more demanding on food quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of two lettuce cultivars on hydroponic and conventional farming systems for the production of fresh mass (FM) and dry mass (DM), photosynthesis, contents of chlorophyll and anthocyanin. The following two experiments were carried out: hydroponics farming (HF) and conventional farming (CF), performed in protect and unprotect environments, respectively, in Florianópolis, SC. Mimosa Verde cultivar (MV) showed greater fresh mass than Mimosa Roxa (MR), in both farming systems and the two cultivars presented better performance in the hydroponic system (287.7 g MV and 139.1 g MR) than the conventional system (129.7 g MV and 111.8 g MR). Mimosa Verde cultivar presented lower average contents of total chlorophyll (7.7 mg g-¹ FM) than Mimosa Roxa (11.8 mg g-¹FM), and both cultivars displayed higher means for this variable in the hydroponic farming system. Mimosa Roxa presented higher contents of anthocyanin in the conventional system (88.24 mg g-¹ FM) than the ones in the hydroponic system (36.89 mg g-¹ FM). The best results for CO2 net assimilation rate regarded to photosyntheticaly active photon flux density were found in the hydroponic system, for both lettuce cultivars. Variation in the contents of chlorophyll were also found. Those variations were higher in the protected system than in the hydroponic system and contents of anthocyanin were higher in the conventional system.

Highlights

The acknowledge of quality of life by the world population has increased the demand for healthy products (Neto et al, 2011)
The longest cultivation periods of the plants in the conventional farming (CF) may be due to the development of new roots, replacing those existing in the plant at the time of transplantation, and are degraded after being transferred to the field, in contact with the soil (Beninni et al, 2005)
This behavior does not occur in the hydroponics farming (HF), possibly because the water and all the nutrients are available in adequate amounts over the growing season

Summary

Introduction

The acknowledge of quality of life by the world population has increased the demand for healthy products (Neto et al, 2011). In addition to the reasons associated with the consumer profile, the hydroponic farming in protected environment is becoming more important due to the following factors: better use of the cultivation area, early harvest, more efficient nutrient use, better sanitary quality of the product and the possibility of controlling abiotic factors that restrict farming in certain seasons (Santos et al, 2008). Another positive aspect of such farming system is its potential contribution to the development of urban agriculture and household food production

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