Fei Cheng

Light is a crucial environmental signal and a form of photosynthetic energy for plant growth, development, and nutrient formation. To explore the effects of light quality on the growth and nutritional qualities of greenhouse-grown lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), lettuce was cultivated under supplementary white (W) light-emitting diodes (LEDs); white plus ultraviolet A LEDs (W+UV); white plus far-red LEDs (W+FR); and the combination of white, far-red, and UV-A LEDs (W+FR+UV) for 25 days, with lettuce grown under natural sunlight used as the control. The results indicate that the leaf length and leaf width values for lettuce grown under the W+FR+UV treatment were significantly higher than those of lettuce grown under other supplementary light treatments. The highest values of shoot fresh weight, shoot dry weight, root fresh weight, and root dry weight were recorded under the W+FR treatment (4.0, 6.0, 8.0, and 12.4 times higher than those under the control treatment, respectively). Lettuce grown under the W+FR treatment exhibited the highest total chlorophyll content (39.1%, 24.6%, and 16.2% higher than that under the W, W+UV, and W+FR+UV treatments, respectively). The carotenoid content of lettuce grown under the W+FR treatment was the highest among all treatments. However, the root activity of greenhouse-grown lettuce was the highest under the W+FR+UV treatment. Soluble sugar content, cellulose content, and starch content in the lettuce responded differently to the light treatments and were highest under the W+UV treatment. In summary, supplementary light promoted growth and nutrient accumulation in lettuce. Specifically, white plus far-red light promoted lettuce growth, and white plus UV increased some specific compounds in greenhouse-grown lettuce. Our findings provide valuable references for the application of light-supplementation strategies to greenhouse lettuce production.

The relatively low light intensity during autumn–winter or early spring and inclement weather such as rain or fog may lead to extended production periods and decreased quality of greenhouse-grown tomato seedlings. To produce high-quality tomato seedlings rapidly, the influences of supplementary lights with different spectra on the morphological and physiological traits of tomato seedlings were measured in a greenhouse. Supplemental lighting with the same daily light integrals (DLI) of 3.6 mol m⁻²d⁻¹ was provided by white (W) light-emitting diodes (LEDs), white plus red (WR) LEDs, and red plus blue (RB) LEDs, respectively, and tomato seedlings grown under only sunlight irradiation were regarded as the control. Our results demonstrate that raised DLI by supplementary light improved the growth and development of greenhouse-grown tomato seedlings, regardless of the spectral composition. Under conditions with the equal DLI, the tomato seedlings grown under supplementary WR LEDs with a red to blue light ratio (R:B ratio) of 1.3 obtained the highest values of the shoot and root fresh weights, net photosynthetic rate, and total chlorophyll content. The best root growth and highest root activity of tomato seedlings were also found under the supplementary WR LEDs. Supplementary WR LEDs remarkably increased the stem firmness of the greenhouse-grown tomato seedlings, and increased the starch content in the leaves of greenhouse-grown tomato seedlings compared to the control. However, statistically significant differences did not occur in the sucrose, carotenoid contents, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activities among the different supplemental lighting treatments. In conclusion, supplemental LED lighting could promote the growth and development of greenhouse-grown tomato seedlings grown under insufficient sunlight conditions. In addition, WR LEDs could obtain tomato seedlings with a higher net photosynthetic rate, higher root activity, and higher starch content compared with other treatments, which could be applied as supplementary lights in greenhouse-grown tomato seedlings grown in seasons with insufficient light.