Project

Integration of new LED technology into commercial plant tissue culture

Code
179P1908
Duration
01 October 2008 → 30 September 2010
Funding
Regional and community funding: IWT/VLAIO
Research disciplines
  • Natural sciences
    • Plant biology
Keywords
plant tissue culture
 
Project description

Plant tissue cultivation has high input costs, including labor and electricity. The plants grow on a nutrient medium in jars, vlootjes or test tubes on racks in air-conditioned groeikames. At each level of the racks are mounted fluorescent bulbs, which also produce a lot of heat in addition to the desired amount of light. The use of the fluorescent lamps for the illumination of plants in vitro, and the cooling of the heat that they give off, it represents a blangrijke cost item. Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) were more than 10 years ago, included for the first time in tissue culture research. Although the then LED lamps already had advantages such as long life, low heat generation and a different spectral emission, the light output was too low and installation costs too high for commercial applications. Consequently dozed researching applications in plant tissue culture. The development of a new generation of super bright LEDs with high luminous efficiency, lower installation costs, reduced consumption and heat generation and longer life now offers new perspectives for various applications in horticulture. The final objective of the project is to accelerate the successful introduction of LEDs in the Flemish commercial growers plant tissue. This is possible by entering two expectations. The first is that LED's energy efficient and thus ultimately economically more favorable than current fluorescent lamps. Secondly that LEDs can be controlled, the physiological and morphological in vitro plant. LEDs are indeed available in different colors, making it possible to send physiological and morphological processes.