Mutant Action Environment and Technology

Redden the lettuce with LED Ultraviolet

An experiment has shown that exposure of lettuce to ultraviolet LED increases the dark pigments of the plant making it more red and rich in antioxidants, extremely beneficial to health.

The research was presented by Steven Britz of the "U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville" in 2009 during the "Conference on Lasers and Electro Optics / International Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO / IQEC)" held from May 31 to June 5, 2009 at Baltimore Convention Center.

The lettuce is exposed to rays ultraviloletti, which are absorbed by polyphenolic compounds present in the outer layer of cells. Some of these compounds are red and belong to the same family by that color to the berries and the peel of the apple. Their purpose is to block the ultraviolet radiation that can damage and mutate the DNA of the plant, thus compromising the photosynthesis process, and increase as a result of exposure to UVB light, to protect the plant.
These polyphenolic compounds are potent antioxidants, beneficial to human health by improving the brain function and slow down the wear and tear of aging.
The UVB light is a natural component of sunlight, and in small amounts, helps the body to produce vitamin D.

Steven Britz has espossto the lettuce plants to UVB light in amounts comparable to that which would absorb in a sunny day at the beach, or about 10 milliwatts per square meter.
For the illumination were used LEDs with a peak wavelength from 282 to 296 nm (nanometers)
After 43 hours of exposure of the lettuce has been observed a redness, differently from the plants exposed to a normal white light. The effect seems to increase with the intensity of the light used.

Lettuce with 3 different types of UVB light

The results obtained may have a practical implication in the indoor winter crops, especially in northern climates, as the plants receive little UVB radiation from the sun

Britz also discussed the possibility of using UV LEDs to maintain the nutrients in vegetables that have already been collected. Previous experiments have shown that the rind of an apple remains red for a period of time longer, when exposed to ultraviolet light. The LEDs UVB are a promising technology that, through the 'irradiation of vegetables stored at low temperature, allows to maintain or even increase the amount of phytonutrients they contain.

The information in this article were taken from the blog ledgrowlights.blogspot.com

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