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Influence of Soil and Light Condition on the Growth and Antioxidants Content of Amaranthus Cruentus (Red Amaranth) Microgreen
Light and soil condition has significant effect on the quality of plants cultivated. However, there are limited studies conducted on this research area, sp
Teck Quan Lau, Vincent Tung Hua Tang, Jibrail Kansedo
IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering · 2019 · https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/495/1/012051
Abstract
Light and soil condition has significant effect on the quality of plants cultivated. However, there are limited studies conducted on this research area, specifically on the Amaranthus Cruentus (red amaranth) microgreens. Therefore, this research project aims to investigate the influence of light and soil condition on red amaranth microgreens growth as well as its antioxidants contents. Microgreens were grown under different soil condition with the same light condition, and vice versa. The stem length, root length, fresh weight and dry weight of microgreens were measured. The antioxidants and mineral content were also analysed. This paper concludes that neutral pH and loose soil is the best soil condition for cultivating microgreens. Black soil produced microgreens with 1.89 and 2.60-fold higher in terms of stem length, and 1.50 and 2.13-fold higher in terms of fresh weight than those cultivated in orange and tallow soil respectively. Compost can be added to soil to improve its quality. In terms of lighting condition, sunlight provided the best light source for yielding high quality microgreens, reducing the growth time of microgreens from 11 days to 8 days. Red+blue and white artificial light can also be used to substitute sunlight as they yielded similar quality.
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How to credit this work
Teck Quan Lau; Vincent Tung Hua Tang; Jibrail Kansedo (2019). Influence of Soil and Light Condition on the Growth and Antioxidants Content of Amaranthus Cruentus (Red Amaranth) Microgreen. IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/495/1/012051 Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Hosted by EVEC Athens (microgreens.org.gr). No changes were made to this article. Provided as-is, without warranties. EVEC Athens is not affiliated with, and this copy is not endorsed by, the authors or the publisher.
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