“Pulse irradiation” LED light doubles the vitamin content of vegetables

Recently, a plant factory in Japan began to use LED light sources     with three primary colors of red, blue and green to illuminate the vegetables it grows. According to tests, the vegetables grown in this way are more nutritious than those grown under sunlight.

　　According to scientists, LED lighting is more suitable for vegetable growth because it can adjust the wavelength and brightness of light. Usually, the colors of light required for plant growth are mainly red and blue, with a ratio of 10:1 to 5:1. Sunlight contains a lot of ultraviolet and infrared rays, which will affect the normal growth of plants if exposed to sunlight for too long. The main advantage of LED lighting is that it can adjust the wavelength and brightness of light, and can also achieve "pulse irradiation".

　　The so-called "pulse irradiation" refers to the practice of releasing light by switching the LED power supply on and off at high speed, similar to a flashlight. The principle of "pulse irradiation" is to give plants more rest time between light and dark. Because plants, like humans, also need rest and to conserve their energy in order to grow better.

　　According to Japanese research data, when the light-dark frequency of "pulse irradiation" is maintained at 1:2/hour, the plant growth rate is the highest, 33% higher than usual. Using "pulse irradiation" alone can increase the volume of the planted vegetables by 20% to 25%. By adjusting the color and intensity of the LED light source, the vitamin content of the planted vegetables can reach 1300% of that of ordinary vegetables. For example, the vitamin A, C, and E content of leaf lettuce grown under LED light sources are 14 times, 3 times, and 6 times higher than usual, respectively.

　　At the same time, "pulse irradiation" also saves electricity. According to preliminary estimates, it can reduce the production cost of vegetables by nearly 30%. Based on this, scientists believe that LED will have a huge market space in the field of plant lighting in the future.