Assessment of Nutritional Properties of <i>Valerianella locusta</i> Growing in Indoor Vertical Farms under Different Lighting Conditions

Abstract

Vertical Farms (VFs) are controlled indoor growing systems that maximize crop production and land-use efficiency. The major disadvantage of VFs is the high energy demand for lighting, making it necessary to adopt light conditions that offer desirable traits to the plants under minimum energy consumption. The aim of this study was to evaluate nutritional factors of corn salad plants under different lighting conditions. Two different light qualities were tested, white and blue-red-near-infrared parts of the spectrum under three different daily light integrals, DLI, each. The optimal biochemical characteristics of the plants were observed under the most energy efficient lighting.

Keywords

• vertical farming
• biochemical analysis
• nutritional properties
• nitrate
• antioxidants
• daily light integral