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Horticulturae
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LED Lighting Effects on the Growth and Development of Fruits...
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LED Lighting Effects on the Growth and Development of Fruits and Vegetables

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Protected Culture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 4545

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Juan Valiente-Banuet

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Epigmenio González 500, Querétaro 76130, Mexico
Interests: Environmental physiology, horticultural sciences, greenhouse technology, precision agriculture
Dr. Hector Nuñez-Palenius

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
División de Ciencias de la Vida, Campus Irapuato-Salamanca, Universidad de Guanajuato, Agronomía, Ex Hacienda el Copal km 9, Carretera Irapuato-Silao, Irapuato 36500, Mexico
Interests: infectious diseases; Carnosol; in vitro; cultures; rosmarinus officinalis; rosemary; quantification; temporary immersion system; 6-benzylaminopurine

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In horticultural production systems, light characteristics play a pivotal role in determining plant growth and morphology, as they do in flowering, final crop yield, and fruit quality. Artificial lighting utilizing light emitting diodes (LED lighting) allows for a more controlled growth environment that can improve the productivity of fruits and vegetables. In addition to the emission of specific wavelengths, LED lighting is more energy efficient than other light sources, which makes it particularly attractive in terms of reducing production costs.

The purpose of this Special Issue on “LED Lighting: Promoting the Growth and Development of Fruits and Vegetables” is to present innovative studies that have been successful in determining the advantages and possible drawbacks of the use of LED lighting in horticultural production. The use of LED lighting to improve growth conditions, either by providing optimum photosynthetic conditions, reduced-temperature production conditions, increased chlorophyll or photosynthetic pigments, or other effects on horticultural production systems, is of utmost interest for the production of high-quality commodities.

Dr. Juan Ignacio Valiente-Banuet
Dr. Hector Nuñez-Palenius
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • environmental physiology
  • flowering
  • fruit quality
  • fruit set
  • LED lighting characteristics
  • plant morphology
  • spectra
  • supplementary lighting
  • yield

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2887 KiB  
Article
Intermittent Blue Light Supplementation Affected Carbohydrate Accumulation and Sugar Metabolism in Red-Light-Grown Tomato Seedlings
by Xiangyu Gao, Lingzhi Li, Wenzhong Guo, Yifan Zhai, Xiaoming Wei and Xiaoli Chen
Horticulturae 2025, 11(6), 700; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11060700 - 17 Jun 2025
Viewed by 5
Abstract
According to previous studies, dynamic light regimes might enhance seedling development, survival rates, or economic efficiency in factory-based seedling production systems compared to continuous red and blue light irradiation. However, there have been few studies revealing the effects of discontinuous red and blue [...] Read more.
According to previous studies, dynamic light regimes might enhance seedling development, survival rates, or economic efficiency in factory-based seedling production systems compared to continuous red and blue light irradiation. However, there have been few studies revealing the effects of discontinuous red and blue light on the carbohydrate accumulation and metabolism of tomato seedlings. Therefore, we planted tomato seedlings in an artificial light plant factory under a red background light with intermittent blue light intervention, namely R (as the control), R/RB32, R/RB40, R/RB64, and R/RB80 at an equal daily light integral. The growth, carbohydrate accumulation, and sugar metabolism were analyzed to investigate the effects of dynamic lighting modes on tomato seedlings. The results demonstrated the following: (1) Pure red light induced spindling of tomato seedlings, while intermittent blue light treatments enhanced stem thickness, leaf number, and leaf area, resulting in greater biomass accumulation. Among these treatments, the highest antioxidant enzyme activity and the lowest reactive oxygen species (ROS) content, accompanied by the highest biomass, were all observed in tomato seedlings subjected to R/RB80 (intermittent supplementation of 80 μmol·m−2·s−1 blue light under red light background). (2) The carbohydrate accumulation in tomato seedlings was increased under all treatments relative to the control. The sucrose content, enzyme activity, and gene expression level of sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) were all up-regulated in tomato leaves treated with blue light irradiation compared with pure R. In addition, the highest soluble sugar content, along with the peak SPS activity and gene expression, was observed under the R/RB80 treatment. Meanwhile, the lowest fructose content accompanied by the lowest activity and gene expression of sucrose synthase (SS) were observed in tomato leaves treated with R/RB32. This implies that blue light supplementation may regulate sugar accumulation by modulating the activity or expression of enzymes involved in sucrose metabolism. (3) Moreover, shoot biomass, enzyme activity, and expression level of SPS were all found to increase with the increase in supplementary blue light intensity, indicating that short-duration high-intensity blue light was more effective in promoting carbohydrate accumulation in tomato seedlings than long-term low-intensity blue light based on the equal DLI. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue LED Lighting Effects on the Growth and Development of Fruits and Vegetables)
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16 pages, 614 KiB  
Article
A Rugulopteryx okamurae-Based Biostimulant Enhances Growth and Phytochemicals in Lettuce
by Tatiana P. L. Cunha-Chiamolera, Tarik Chileh-Chelh, Mohamed Ezzaitouni, Miguel Urrestarazu, Juan de Dios Carrillo Montalbán and José Luis Guil-Guerrero
Horticulturae 2025, 11(5), 558; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11050558 - 21 May 2025
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Abstract
This study investigates the potential of a biostimulant derived from the invasive brown alga Rugulopteryx okamurae (RoB) to enhance lettuce growth and improve its phytochemical profile. The extraction of the biostimulant was optimized through the implementation of a Box–Behnken design, and the resulting [...] Read more.
This study investigates the potential of a biostimulant derived from the invasive brown alga Rugulopteryx okamurae (RoB) to enhance lettuce growth and improve its phytochemical profile. The extraction of the biostimulant was optimized through the implementation of a Box–Behnken design, and the resulting extract was then compared with a commercial Ascophyllum nodosum-based product (AnB). This comparison was made under both optimal and suboptimal fertigation conditions in a controlled, soilless culture. Lettuce plants were monitored for water and nutrient uptake, growth parameters, and accumulation of key phytochemicals such as carotenoids, tocols, sterols, and squalene. RoB significantly increased fresh and dry biomass, with enhanced nitrate and potassium uptake, in comparison to standard nutrient solution controls (p < 0.05). Treatments incorporating RoB consistently resulted in higher concentrations of lutein, β-sitosterol, and squalene, particularly under suboptimal conditions (p < 0.05), thus suggesting a strong biostimulant effect that mitigates nutrient stress. Furthermore, principal component analysis demonstrated that biostimulant application induces distinct metabolic profiles, highlighting the coordinated regulation of antioxidant pigments and sterol compounds. The findings support the dual benefits of algae-derived biostimulants in promoting sustainable crop production by improving yield quality and increasing health-promoting phytochemicals, paving the way for innovative, eco-friendly fertilization practices in modern agriculture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue LED Lighting Effects on the Growth and Development of Fruits and Vegetables)
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17 pages, 1459 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Nighttime LED Lighting on Tomato Growth, Yield, and Nutrient Content of Fruits
by Inna V. Knyazeva, Olga Panfilova, Oksana Vershinina, Alexander A. Smirnov, Alexey S. Dorokhov and Ibrahim Kahramanoğlu
Horticulturae 2024, 10(12), 1259; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10121259 - 27 Nov 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1947
Abstract
Food insecurity is a top economic and national security concern in many countries, and scientists worldwide are working to increase crop productivity in order to address this issue. In line with this information, the present study aimed to test the possibility of improving [...] Read more.
Food insecurity is a top economic and national security concern in many countries, and scientists worldwide are working to increase crop productivity in order to address this issue. In line with this information, the present study aimed to test the possibility of improving the yield and fruit quality of two tomato cultivars, namely ‘Vspyshka’ and ‘Lyana’. The effect of LSL (light of sodium lamps—control) and the short additional 4 h treatment of nighttime LED lighting (LSL+night LED) with an increase in the proportion of red, blue, and far-red spectra on tomato fruit yield as well as its physiological, biochemical, and consumer attributes were compared in this study. The results suggested that LSL+night LED significantly increased soluble solids concentration, vitamin C content, and polyphenolic compounds of tomato fruits, taking into account the varietal characteristics. Moreover, a moderate to high relationship was also observed between the polyphenolic complex, vitamin C content, and antioxidant activity. It was concluded that the LSL+night LED could further enhance the relationship between polyphenols and antioxidants, as well as soluble solids concentration. LSL+night LED treatment also provided an increased accumulation of five essential amino acids associated with the taste characteristics of fruits, namely histidine, valine, threonine, licin, and the sum of isoleucine. In addition, the contents of lysine and methionine increased in the ‘Lyana’ cultivar. LSL+night LED treatment was also noted to have a less pronounced effect on the contents of aspartic acid and asparagine, as bio stimulators of plant growth processes, as well as the amino acids arginine, serine, glycine, and tyrosine, which were additionally consumed to restore photosynthesis. LSL+night LED treatment reduced the concentration of nitrates in fruits, which is a toxic element for human health. Overall, the results of the study are believed to be demanded in practical applications, with potential benefits in improving the elements of resource-saving technology for growing vegetable crops. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue LED Lighting Effects on the Growth and Development of Fruits and Vegetables)
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13 pages, 2410 KiB  
Article
Plant Growth Optimization Using Amber Light Supplemented with Different Blue Light Spectra
by Keli Trumpler, Bo-Sen Wu, Philip Wiredu Addo, Sarah MacPherson and Mark Lefsrud
Horticulturae 2024, 10(10), 1097; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10101097 - 16 Oct 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1468
Abstract
Blue (400–500 nm) and red (600–700 nm) light regions have been investigated for their effects on photosynthesis and plant growth, yet evidence for specific blue light wavelengths in plant research is lacking. Investigations into amber (595 nm) light are similarly limited. To ‘shed [...] Read more.
Blue (400–500 nm) and red (600–700 nm) light regions have been investigated for their effects on photosynthesis and plant growth, yet evidence for specific blue light wavelengths in plant research is lacking. Investigations into amber (595 nm) light are similarly limited. To ‘shed light’ on these two important wavelengths, this study investigated the combined effects of blue and amber light on plant growth and development in two model plants: tomato (Solanum lycopersicum cv. Beefsteak) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa cv. Breen). Plant growth responses were determined with four light treatments: B+BA (blue + broad amber, 455–602 nm), RB-NA (royal blue + narrow amber, 430–602 nm), RB-BA (royal blue + broad amber, 423–595 nm), and high-pressure sodium at a PPFD of 250 µmol m−2 s−1. After 21 days, the highest fresh and dry mass for both plant species was obtained under the RB-BA light treatment. Shifting the blue wavelength from 430 nm to 455 nm with broad amber lighting led to 40% less fresh mass for tomatoes, whereas only an approximate 5% reduction in fresh mass was observed for lettuce plants. Our findings demonstrate that an alternate and combined blue + amber light spectrum is effective for optimizing plant productivity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue LED Lighting Effects on the Growth and Development of Fruits and Vegetables)
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