LED light effect on growth, pigments, and antioxidants of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) baby greens

Abstract
Red and green lettuce baby greens provide additional health benefts because they are high in nutrients, pigments, \r\nand antioxidants. This study examines red coral lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. cripsa) and green lettuce (Lactuca \r\nsativa L. var. longifolia) baby greens grown for 20 days in a soil-vermicompost-compost (50:30:20) mixture to determine how diferent LED light spectra afect their growth, pigment accumulation, and antioxidant qualities. Plant \r\nheight, biomass, and other growth parameters were evaluated manually, while pigments, phenolics, and favonoids \r\nwere analyzed using spectrophotometric techniques. In terms of growth, green lettuce fared better than red lettuce, with a biomass of 5.90±0.35 g/ 100 plant and a plant height of 6.86±0.23 cm, particularly during exposure \r\nto red+blue light. Red+blue as well as red light caused a considerable decrease in chlorophyll concentration; \r\nunder red light, green lettuce’s chlorophyll content dropped by up to 59.61%. Both species’ phenolic (100%) and favonoid (100%) contents were increased by white light, but red light produced the lowest levels. Blue light maintained \r\nthe highest levels of carotenoid concentration while all other treatments saw a decline. With white light maximizing \r\nantioxidant content and red+blue light encouraging growth, principal component analysis (PCA) analysis demonstrated the substantial impact of light treatments on pigment and biochemical composition. Overall, the study concludes that treatments with LED light have a signifcant impact on red and green lettuce baby greens’ development, \r\npigment buildup, and antioxidant qualities.\r\nKeywords LED light, Lettuce baby greens, Pigment accumulation, Antioxidant properties, PCA analysis

Author
Sahar Hassannejad

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-025-06621-8

ISSN
ISSN: 1471-2229

Publish Date: 2025-05-03