Researchers in the US has proved that light produced by LEDs can speed up plant growth, and can also improve the taste of fruits and vegetables. The researchers are also proving that LED light can treat disease in plants. This discovery can cut down on the usage of expensive and, to some extent, harmful pesticides.
Researchers in the US has proved that light produced by LEDs can speed up plant growth, and can also improve the taste of fruits and vegetables.
The researchers are also proving that LED light can treat disease in plants. This discovery can cut down on the usage of expensive and, to some extent, harmful pesticides.
The research, which is still in its early stage, suggests that the same wavelength of light produced by LED can improve the flavor of fruits and vegetables.
Jaimin Patel, a plant pathologist at the Lighting Research Center of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, has conducted studies along with New York’s Cornell University researchers, to find out the impact of LEDs and ultraviolet light on strawberries, rosemary, cucumber, and other fruits and vegetables.
They found that light from LEDs can reduce pathogens, and at the same time increase yield. Downy mildew, a disease of the foliage, and powdery mildew pathogens, a fungal disease of plants, are very sensitive to a certain type of light.
According to Patel, pathogens need light to live. Sunlight has many different kind of waves from x-rays to radio waves to ultraviolet light. Downy mildew and powdery mildew both can be reduced if grown under LED light.
LED lights can be controlled to produce a particular spectrum of light. For example, it can be controlled to harm pathogens and help plant grow better.
If light is proved to be an effective killer of pathogens in plants, then this would mean that use of expensive and unhealthy pesticides will be cut down.
BizLED Magazine
