Growth Acceleration Effects of Air Anions in Endive and Lettuce, And Economic Feasibility of Their Application
Generally, anions are the molecules that have gained one or more extra electrons, and oxygen anions are the most commonly present anions in the atmosphere. Several studies have reported the improvement in plant respiration and growth on application of air anions to several plants. Nevertheless, there is still limited information on the relationship between air anions and plant growth. In this study, we confirmed the effect of air anions on the growth of lettuce (L actuca sativa ) and endive ( Cichorium endavia var. crispum ), explored their relationships, and further analyzed the economic feasibility of plant factories. Endives and two cultivars of lettuce were cultivated with the application of air anions. Endive plants applied to low concentration of air anion (1×10 4 –5×10 4 ions∙cm -3 ) showed vigorous growth at 2 and 4 weeks of treatment. Low-level air anion improved growth characteristics such as leaf area and shoot fresh weight, although there was no significant difference in leaf shape index, leaf number, and chlorophyll content. Low levels of air anions led to 34% and 41% higher shoot growth than the control at 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, respectively. In addition, the photosynthetic rate of plants treated with the low-level air anion was 31% higher than that of the control at 3 weeks after treatment, which supported the results of shoot growth. Medium and high levels (7×10 5 –12×10 5 ions∙cm -3 and 15×10 5 –20×10 5 ions∙cm -3 ) led to an increase in leaf area and shoot growth numerically at 4 weeks of treatment, but no significant difference between the control and treatments was observed. Lettuce plants treated with air anions (5×10 5 ions∙cm –3 ) showed vigorous growth after 28 days of treatment. Exposure to air anions improved growth characteristics, such as leaf area and shoot biomass, although there was no significant difference in leaf number and chlorophyll content. Profitability analysis in a plant factory currently in operation revealed that the annual net profit per 1,500 m 2 of cultivation area was about $ 8,000 and $ 7,000 for red leaf lettuce and lollo bionda lettuce, respectively. Therefore, the application of air anions to leafy vegetables in plant factories or greenhouses could increase crop production, resulting in high economic feasibility
Year of publication: |
[2022]
|
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Authors: | Lee, Sora ; Song, Min-Jeong ; Oh, MyungMin |
Publisher: |
[S.l.] : SSRN |
Saved in:
freely available
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