Potential Use of Colored LED Lights to Increase the Production of Bioactive Metabolites Hedyotis corymbosa (L.) Lam

Hedyotis corymbosa (L.) Lam is a wild herb that is used in traditional Indian, Chinese, and African medicine. Light-emitting diode (LED) technology is paving the way to enhance crop production and inducing targeted photomorphogenic, biochemical, or physiological responses in plants. This study examines the efficiency of H. corymbosa (L.) Lam production under blue 450 nm and red 660 nm LED lights for overall plant growth, photosynthetic characteristics, and the contents of metabolite compounds. Our research showed that blue LED lights provided a positive effect on enhancing plant growth and overall biomass. In addition, blue LED lights are more effective in controlling the production of sucrose, starch, total phenolic compounds, and total flavonoid compared to red LED lights. However, blue and red LED lights played essential but different roles in photosynthetic characteristics. Our results showed the potential of colored LED light applications in improving farming methods and increasing metabolite production in herbs. LED lights are safer alternatives than genetically modified organisms or genome editing.

The effects of LED light spectrum manipulation on growth and color performance of giant gourami Osphronemus gouramy Lacepede Padang strain

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of light spectrum on growth and color performance of giant giant gourami Padang strain. The experiment used a completely randomized design (RAL) with four light emitting diode (LED) treatments in different emission spectra (white, red, green, and blue) at 550 Lux intensity, compared to the control treatment (light room with white tubular lamp at 50 Lux intensity). The irradiation was carried out for 12 hours of photoperiod. The fish used had the total length of 82.90±4.2 mm and body weight of 9.87 ± 0.99 g. The highest growth performance was found in blue LED treatment with the specific growth rate of 2.73 ± 0.2% and feed efficiency of 86.26 ± 2.71%. The best color performance was found in red LED treatment with the RGB ratio of 44.57 ± 0.62% in dorsal fin, 38.41 ± 1.36% in pectoral fins, and 45.33 ± 2.25% in anal fin with the chromatophore cell concentration at 1.973±58 cells/mm2. Keywords : Osphronemus gouramy, blue LED, spectrum, chromatophore, light ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengevaluasi pengaruh spektrum cahaya terhadap kinerja pertumbuhan dan warna ikan gurami strain Padang. Rancangan penelitian yang digunakan adalah rancangan acak lengkap (RAL) dengan 4 perlakuan cahaya lampu light emitting diodes (LED) yang memiliki spektrum panjang gelombang berbeda (putih, merah, hijau dan biru) intensitas 550 Lux dan kontrol (cahaya ruang berasal dari lampu tubular putih intensitas 50 Lux). Penyinaran dilakukan selama 12 jam mengikuti fotoperiod. Ikan uji yang digunakan memiliki panjang total 82,90 ± 4,2 mm, dengan bobot 9,87 ± 0,99 g. Kinerja pertumbuhan terbaik terdapat pada perlakuan LED biru dengan laju pertumbuhan spesifik sebesar 2,73 ± 0,2% dan efisiensi pakan sebesar 86,26 ± 2,71%. Performa warna terbaik terdapat pada perlakuan LED merah dengan rasio warna merah pada RGB bagian dorsal sebesar 44,57 ± 0,62%, sirip pektoral sebesar 38,41 ± 1,36%, dan sirip anal sebesar 45,33 ± 2,25% dengan jumlah sel kromatofor sebanyak 1973 sel/mm2. Kata kunci : Osphronemus gouramy, LED biru, spektrum, kromatofor, cahaya

Additional Blue LED during Cultivation Induces Cold Tolerance in Tomato Fruit but Only to an Optimum

Tomato is a chilling-sensitive fruit. The aim of this study is to examine the role of preharvest blue LED lighting (BL) to induce cold tolerance in ‘Foundation’ tomatoes. Blue and red supplemental LED light was applied to achieve either 0, 12 or 24% additional BL (0B, 12B and 24B). Mature green (MG) or red (R) tomatoes were harvested and cold stored at 4 °C for 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 d, and then stored for 20 d at 20 °C (shelf life). Chilling injury (CI) indices, color and firmness, hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde, ascorbic acid and catalase activity were characterized. At harvest, R tomatoes cultivated at 12B were firmer and showed less coloration compared to fruit of other treatments. These fruits also showed higher loss of red color during cold storage and lower CI symptoms during shelf-life. MG tomatoes cultivated at 12B showed delayed coloring (non-chilled) and decreased weight loss (long cold stored) during shelf life compared to fruit in the other treatments. No effects of light treatments, both for MG and R tomatoes, were observed for the selected antioxidant capacity indicators. Improved cold tolerance for R tomatoes cultivated at 12B points to lycopene having higher scavenging activity at lower concentrations to mitigate chilling injury.

Benefits and Risks of the Technological Creep of LED Light Technologies Applied to the Purse Seine Fishery

This study is a first attempt to investigate the catch efficiency of LED light technology compared to the traditional incandescent lamp that is used in the purse seine fishery (PS) in the Central Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea). Catches per unit effort were adopted to assess the performance of lighting systems, considering the electrical energy and the fuel consumption as effort units. Concerning the catch efficiency, the white LED, which emits the same light spectra as the incandescent lamp, increased the yield by over 2 times per consumption unit of energy and fuel. The yield efficiency increased up to approximately 6 and 9 times when adopting the pulsing white or blue LED, respectively. These increases were due to the energy savings resulting from the flashing of the white LED or by the greater water penetration of the blue LED. No significant difference in target species sizes was detected between the use of LEDs and the incandescent lamp. The results obtained from estimates of the hourly fuel consumption and CO2 emissions stress potential benefits in the reduction of the carbon footprint due to the use of LEDs within the PS fishery. Positive economic impacts were derived from the LED technology on the PS fishery, with the fuel cost-saving percentages all being higher than 60%. The LED technology clearly shows potential benefits at the economic level for the fishermen, and the possibility of mitigating indirect negative effects on the environment due to fuel combustion and greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, the application of new technology that improves the catch efficiency of fishing gears should be carefully considered. The lack of regulations controlling technological advancement could cause unwanted long-term effects.

Protector role of intraocular lenses under artificial light conditions

Introduction: The aim of this work is to analyse, in an in vitro model, the possible protective effects of ultraviolet- (UV-) or UV/ blue-filtering intraocular lens (IOLs) under LED lighting conditions. Methods: 10 models of IOLs were evaluated. Light transmission spectrum was recorded from 300 to 800 nm, in steps of 1 nm. Photodamage in vitro model was induced in ARPE-19 cells by blue LED light (465-475 nm). Changes in cell viability and oxidative stress variables were studied to assess the protective effect of IOLs. Results: UV/blue-filtering IOLs models block blue light spectrum in different proportion and UV-filtering IOLs blocking wavelength below 400 nm. However, in vitro study under blue LED light exposure does not show protective effects related with mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress of UV/blue-filtering IOLs. Conclusions: The current in vitro study suggest that UV/blue filtering IOLs are not useful in terms of photoprotection in artificial light conditions. The results obtained indicate that it is needed to give attention to other IOLs parameters besides the type of filter, as it seems they could have influence also protective role.