Capsaicinoids, biosynthesized in pepper fruits (Capsicum annuum), are valuable compounds with diverse industrial applications. Their consistent production is essential but influenced by environmental factors such as light intensity and spectrum. Vertical indoor farming (VIF) systems offer precise environmental control over growing conditions, especially light, yet high energy costs often necessitate reduced light intensities. While peppers are light-demanding plants, their integration into VIF systems requires a balance between energy input and crop performance. To evaluate the feasibility of cultivating Capsicum annuum under energy-saving conditions, we investigated the effects of two reduced light intensities (250 / 500 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹) on fruit yield and quality across two chili pepper cultivars and one bell pepper in VIF conditions. Additionally, we assessed whether supplemental UV-A exposure at 500 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹ could enhance capsaicinoid accumulation.Capsaicinoid content per unit dry fruit mass was not significantly affected by light intensity or UV-A as main effects. However, a significant interaction between cultivar and treatment indicated genotype-specific responses. Medium light intensity (500 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹) significantly increased net photosynthesis and fruit number, resulting in 33–57 % higher dry fruit yield (12.5–29.2 gDW plant⁻¹) compared to the lower intensity (250 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹), and led to a corresponding increase in capsaicinoid yield per area, depending on cultivar. Light levels of 500 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹ are necessary to maximize yield and capsaicinoid output in VIF, while cultivar selection plays a critical role in determining compound accumulation.
Vertical Indoor Farming (VIF) offers a potential for high-quality strawberry production, but resource efficiency data still need to be provided. Three strawberry cultivars with different fruiting characteristics, one Ever-bearing cultivar and two June-bearing (high-yielding and an old, traditional) cultivars, and two light treatments were investigated: artificial white LED light with an additional 2% UVA (365 nm) and white LED light alone. The Ever-bearing cultivar demonstrated significantly higher efficiencies for surface use efficiency (SUE) of 15.2 kg fresh weight m-2 a-1, water use efficiency (WUE) of 291 g fresh weight l-1, and energy use efficiency (EUE) of 10.6 g fresh weight kWh-1, due to a high harvest index of up to0.8 and a low proportion of non-marketable fruit. However, the total energy demand of a container VIF is high, with 4.4-6.4 kWh m-2 d-1. Additional UVA radiation did not significantly alter the Ever-bearing cultivar’s performance. At the same time, multiple harvests and a low proportion of non-marketable fruits led to a higher cumulative yield and increased efficiency, making it a promising choice for strawberry cultivation in VIF.
Plant production in indoor farming systems offers significant advantages compared to open field orgreenhouse production systems. Especially in terms of quality and the ability for automation the system is superior to the conventional production systems. Concerning resource consumption indoor farming has considerable advantages in regard to water consumption and the use of pesticides.The main disadvantage is the high consumption of electrical energy. Taking advantage of the specific benefits or eliminating the disadvantages, for example by using renewable energies, different potentials and fields of application for indoorfarming arise.The paper outlines the potentials and future fields of application of indoor farming considering the specific differences to conventional production systems related to resource consumption, quality and automation.
Climate change and increasing global urbanization accelerate the expansion of protected cultivation systems. However, certain dependences to external weather conditions remain even in modern greenhouses. Indoor vertical farming, on the other hand, pursues complete inde-pendence from external weather conditions with the aim for highly accurate control of all crop parameters. Particularly with regard to the advancing climate change and the need for sustainable resource consumption, there are clear advantages due to the year-round and independent cultivation of plants and raw materials under optimal conditions. The complexity in the optimal networking of the plant-technology systems offers intensive development opportunities for dig-itization and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Indoor vertical farming offers great opportunities regarding a sustainable and consistent production of high-quality herbs and raw materials all year round for the perfume, chemical, or food industry. Cultivation takes place in an enclosed structure, operating predominantly independent from external conditions in multi-layer systems equipped with artificial lighting, enabling extremely high resource use efficiencies with a simultaneous increase in yield. On the other hand, field production in terms of plant quality and harvesting times is highly influenced by environmental conditions, making it difficult to maintain homogenous raw material qualities throughout the year. To show how different light qualities affect the overall efficiency and quality of Origanum majorana grown in an indoor farm, the resource consumption, yield, and cultivation time as well as the essential oil quantity was analyzed, and the efficiencies in terms of energy and land use efficiency calculated. The experimental setup clearly demonstrated that the yield regarding fresh as well as dry matter and oil content was comparable to one square meter of open field production. Based on this, the multi-layer system and the noticeable lowered growth period result in a significantly higher area efficiency compared to the open field, leading to a potential increase of annual yields of dried leave weight and oil contents by up to 21 times. It was also shown that a white spectrum (W) showed similar influence on plant growth and yield as a spectrum consisting of blue and red (B/R). Nevertheless, the LED treatment W did show higher light use efficiencies as well as a better working conditions inside the cultivation chamber. By an integration of indoor vertical farming into existing industrial processes, new and innovative opportunities for a flexible and low-risk supply chain seem feasible and according to German food industry meet the interests of existing stakeholders.
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Heike Susanne Mempel,
Fred Eickmeyer,
Susanne Wöster,
Joachim Müller,
Marina Michalsky,
Thomas Hannus,
Andrea Krähmer,
Georg Maier,
Heidi Heuberger,
Volker Henning,
Andreé Hamm,
Sofie Gawronski,
Sabine Wittmann,
Ivonne Wittmann
Heidi Heuberger,
Volker Henning,
Andreé Hamm,
Sofie Gawronski,
Sabine Wittmann,
Ivonne Wittmann,
Heike Susanne Mempel,
Fred Eickmeyer,
Susanne Wöster,
Joachim Müller,
Marina Michalsky,
Thomas Hannus,
Andrea Krähmer,
Georg Maier
Informieren - Diskutieren - Netzwerken - Neues Planen (2023) Aus der Praxis für die Praxis, 9. Tagung für Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzenforschung 2023 in Freising 28 (1), S. 24-35.
Development of an indoor farming cultivation process for Rhodiola rosea, using an aeroponic and deep-water irrigation method (2022) 31. International Horticultural Congress (IHC2022); International Symposium on advances in Vertical Farming .
Influence of different light spectra on growth and quality of Rosmarinus officinalis cultivars in a deep- water vertical indoor farming system (2022) 31. International Horticultural Congress (IHC2022): International Symposium on Advances in Vertical Farming .
Fruit vegetables in indoor farming – potential of chili pepper production (2022) 31. International Horticultural Congress (IHC2022): International Symposium on Advances in Vertical Farming .
In dem Projekt sollen hydroponische Kulturverfahren für Schnittblumen und Schnittgrün in Richtung einer nachhaltigen, umweltgerechten und regionalen Produktion weiterentwickelt werden.
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Ziel ist es, eine bioökonomische Optimierung der Ressourceneffizienz beim Anbau von Pflanzen in Indoor Vertical Farmen durch die Integration der biotechnologischen Kultivierung von Algen und …
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