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Anthocyanin Production Using Rough Bluegrass Treated with High-Intensity Light

Anthocyanin Production Using Rough Bluegrass Treated with High-Intensity Light

Authors :
David S. Gardner
Edward J. Nangle
James D. Metzger
Dominic P. Petrella
Joshua J. Blakeslee
Source :
HortScience. 51:1111-1120
Publication Year :
2016
Publisher :
American Society for Horticultural Science, 2016.

Abstract

Anthocyanins are plant pigments that are in demand for medicinal and industrial uses. However, anthocyanin production is limited due to the harvest potential of the species currently used as anthocyanin sources. Rough bluegrass (Poa trivialis L.) is a perennial turfgrass known for accumulating anthocyanins, and may have the potential to serve as a source of anthocyanins through artificial light treatments. The objectives of this research were to determine optimal light conditions that favor anthocyanin synthesis in rough bluegrass, and to determine the suitability of rough bluegrass as a source of anthocyanins. When exposed to high-intensity white light, rough bluegrass increased anthocyanin content by 100-fold on average, and anthocyanin contents greater than 0.2% of dry tissue weight were observed in some samples. Blue light, at intensities between 150 and 250 μmol·m−2·s−1, was the only wavelength that increased anthocyanin content. However, when red light was applied with blue light at 30% or 50% of the total light intensity, anthocyanin content was increased compared with blue light alone. Further experiments demonstrated that these results may be potentially due to a combination of photosynthetic and photoreceptor-mediated regulation. Rough bluegrass is an attractive anthocyanin production system, since leaf tissue can be harvested while preserving meristematic tissues that allow new leaves to rapidly grow; thereby allowing multiple harvests in a single growing season and greater anthocyanin yields.

Details

ISSN :
23279834 and 00185345
Volume :
51
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
HortScience
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........603ed5fefbd7a613252fa98266d0c9b4
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci10878-16