Polyphenol Content and Essential Oil Composition of Sweet Basil Cultured in a Plant Factory with Light-Emitting Diodes
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RESEARCH ARTICLE https://doi.org/10.7235/HORT.20200057 Polyphenol Content and Essential Oil Composition of Sweet Basil Cultured in a Plant Factory with Light-Emitting Diodes Tae-Eui Song1†, Joon-Kwan Moon2†, and Chang Hee Lee1,3* 1Departmentof Horticulture Life Sciences, Hankyong National University, Anseong 17579, Korea 2Department of Plant Life and Environmental Sciences, Hankyong National University, Anseong 17579, Korea 3Research Institute of International Agriculture, Technology, and Information, Hankyong National University, Anseong 17579, Korea *Corresponding author: [email protected] †These authors contributed equally to the work. Abstract This study was conducted to determine the most suitable light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for enhancing Received: February 21, 2019 the growth characteristics, polyphenolic compounds, and essential oils in sweet basil (Ocimum Revised: May 29, 2020 basilicum L.) cultured in a plant factory. There were four LED combinations using three colors Accepted: June 27, 2020 [Blue (B):Red (R):White (W) ratio = 0:1:9, 0:1:12, 0:5:5, and 2:3:5). The environmental conditions in the plant factory were maintained at 22.5 ± 2.5°C and 80 ± 5% relative humidity. Sweet basil OPEN ACCESS plants were grown in the plant factory at 3 weeks after sowing. The four combinations of LED light sources exerted a significant effect on total fresh weight (FW), shoot FW, and root FW but no effect HORTICULTURAL SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY on plant height and number of leaves. The B0:R5:W5 treatment resulted in the largest increases in 38(5):620-630, 2020 both total FW and shoot FW. Both plant height and number of leaves did not change significantly URL: http://www.hst-j.org with LED treatments but showed the best average growth using B0:R5:W5. The three major pISSN : 1226-8763 polyphenols were identified as rosmarinic acid, chicoric acid, and caffeic acid. Rosmarinic acid eISSN : 2465-8588 content accounted for the highest percentage of the polyphenols and was followed by chicoric and This is an Open Access article distributed caffeic acids. The highest contents of rosmarinic and chicoric acids were achieved with B2:R3:W5, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License which but no significant difference in caffeic acid was found among the four LED conditions. Furthermore, permits unrestricted non-commercial use, B2:R3:W5 resulted in the highest yield of essential oil extracted from 50 g freeze-dried leaves of distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. sweet basil, followed by B0:R5:W5, B0:R1:R12, and B0:R1:W9. Methyl-cinnamate content accounted for the highest percentage of the essential oils, followed by linalool, estragole, and eugenol, Copyrightⓒ2020 Korean Society for Horticultural Science. regardless of the LEDs. In conclusion, the B2:R3:W5 light treatment was the most suitable one for increasing polyphenols and the yield of essential oils in sweet basil. This work was supported by Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Additional key words: artificial light, herb oil, hydroponic culture, Ocimum basilicum L., polyphenolic Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (IPET) compound through Advanced Production Technology Development Program, funded by Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs(MAFRA) (Grant No.317017-03). In addition, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to In-Soo Introduction Kim, CEO of Insungtec and Jin-Yeol Kim for supporting this research, and to thank Editage (www.editage.co.kr) for English language Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is one of the most common functional herbs (Hakkim et al., editing. 2007; Makri and Kintzois, 2008). Herbs and medicinal plants are typically cultivated in open fields, 620 Horticultural Science and Technology Polyphenol Content and Essential Oil Composition of Sweet Basil Cultured in a Plant Factory with Light-Emitting Diodes resulting in yearly variance in the biomass production as well as in the content of secondary metabolites, which are affected by factors such as soil fertility, weather, cultivation practices, diseases, and pests (Orcutt and Nilsen, 2000). Sweet basil contains a secondary metabolite called rosmarinic acid (RA). RA is a caffeic acid (CA) ester with crucial biological properties, including antioxidant, anti-viral, and anti-inflammatory effects and the ability to reduce pollen and other allergens. RA also protects plants via insect repellent and antibacterial activities (Bais et al., 2002; Petersen and Simmonds, 2003; Sanbongi et al., 2004). Both CA and RA are synthesized through the phenylpropanoid pathway, a fairly well established series of enzymatic reactions. RA is an ester of CA and 3,4-dihydroxy phenylalanine, which originates from L-phenylalanine and L-tyrosine (Petersen et al., 1993; Petersen and Simmonds, 2003). In cell cultures of Coleus blumei, RA content correlates with phenylalanine ammonium lyase (PAL) activity (Razzaque, 1977). Recently, irradiation of blue and UV-B light was reported to stimulate the phenylpropanoid pathway via PAL in lettuce (Ebisawa et al., 2008) and to increase the production of phenolics in basil (Nitz and Schnitzler, 2004). Sweet basil is one of the main aromatic plants. In previous studies, it was found that the growth of sweet basil and the essential oil content of its leaves were affected by temperature, light intensity, and irrigation levels (Amaki et al., 2011). The essential oil composition changes through a constant spontaneous transformation during the harvest and post-harvest process (Carvalho et al., 2006). Based on more than 200 kinds of essential oils extracted from basil, Lawrence et al. (1988) establishe d four essential oil chemical types (methyl cavicol, linalool, methyl eugenol, and methyl-cinnamate) and numerous subtypes. In particular, linalool is a terpenoid compound that shows antioxidant and antimicrobial activity (Simon et al., 1990), and methyl-cinnamate has a strong aroma that contributes to the fragrance of essential oils (Viña and Murillo, 2003). It is known that light quality affects secondary metabolites, such as polyphenols and essential oils. However, previous studies have not reported on the ways that light quality affects the contents of aromatic compounds and the growth of sweet basil (Amaki et al., 2011). Variations in the light spectrum can be used to promote the biosynthesis of target substances such as essential oils and polyphenols in plants grown under artificial lighting sources (Ivanitskikh and Tarakanov, 2014). We studied changes in polyphenol content and sweet basil by altering the light spectrum in an industrial plant factory. Plant factories are currently of interest for use as next-generation agricultural production systems. A completely controlled plant factory can be sustained as an eco-friendly agricultural production system that is managed using various artificial light sources. In many plant factories, fluorescent lights and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) provide the n ecessary lighting for plants and improve light energy utilization (Kozai, 2007). LEDs were used by adjusting the ratio of white, red, and blue according to each plant, also UV lamp was used for various purpose. In previous experiments, it was suggested that red LED promotes growth (Bae et al., 2019) but blue LED aids in the accumulation of pytochemical concentration (Kim et al., 2018). In addition, UV lamps affect plants under stressful environmental conditions (Jeon et al., 2018). Therefore, there is increased interest in improving the functionality of special crops using plant factories. This study was conducted to optimize LED conditions for year-round production of quality sweet basil with hi gh polyphenol and essential oil content. Materials and Methods Plant Growth and Environmental Conditions in the Plant Factory Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) was purchased from Asia Seed Korea (Seoul, Korea). This study was conducted Horticultural Science and Technology 621 Polyphenol Content and Essential Oil Composition of Sweet Basil Cultured in a Plant Factory with Light-Emitting Diodes Table 1. The nutrient solution optimized for basil by Yamazaki (1982) EC Concentration (me·L-1) -1 pH (dS·m ) NO3-N NH4-N PO4-P K Ca Mg SO4-S 2.0 6.5 16 1.3 4.0 8.0 8.0 4.0 4.0 using the nutrient film technique (NFT) and hydroponic cultivation in a plant factory (Insungtec. Co., Yongin, Korea). The environmental conditions in the plant factory were maintained at 22.5 ± 2.5°C and 80 ± 5% relative humidity. The light cycle was 14/10 h light/dark. Sweet basil plants were transplanted into the NFT beds and grown using Yamazaki nutrient solution (EC 2.0 dS·m-1, pH 6.5; Yamazaki, 1982) (Table 1) in the plant factory at 3 weeks after sowing. Due to their low cost of operation, white LEDs were chosen as the main LEDs of the combination treatments; blue lights were used for enhancing functional substances, and red lights were used for good crop growth. The LEDs (DMLED Co., Ltd., Ansan, Korea) consisted of three colors (B: blue; R: red; W: white) that were combined to make the following four combinations: B0:R1:W9 (128 µmol·m-2·s-1), B2:R3:W5 (119 µmol·m-2·s-1), B0:R5:W5 (128 µmol·m-2·s-1), and B0:R1:W12 (136 µmol·m-2·s-1). The nutrient solution was supplied in a circular manner to each of the four bays, and four LED treatments were installed with four blocks per bay. At 3 weeks after sowing, 21 seedlings per block were planted in four blocks to achieve 84 seedlings per LED treatment. Polyphenol Extraction and Analysis Briefly, 50 mL of 70% MeOH/water (0.5% Formic acid) was added to 1 g of freeze-dried basil leaves per treatment. After additional shaking for 30 min at 750 rpm, the fraction was filtered with a 0.2- µm filter. The filtered samples were analyzed using a HPLC-PDA (Shimadzu Nexera, Japan) and with an analytical column (Phenomenex Gemini NX C18; 250 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 3-µm particles).