Clauw Helena, Van de Put Hans, Sghaier Abderahman, Kerkaert Trui, Debonne Els, Eeckhout Mia, Steppe Kathy
Laboratory of Plant Ecology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Research Unit of Cereal and Feed Technology, Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Valentin Vaerwyckweg 1, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Foods. 2024 Feb 28;13(5):750. doi: 10.3390/foods13050750.
Cultivating wheat () in a closed environment offers applications in both indoor farming and in outer-space farming. Tailoring the photoperiod holds potential to shorten the growth cycle, thereby increasing the annual number of cycles. As wheat is a long-day plant, a night shorter than a critical length is required to induce flowering. In growth chambers, experiments were conducted to examine the impact of a 6 h light-dark cycle on the timing of wheat ear emergence, grain yield, and flour quality. Under equal daily light-integral conditions, the 6 h light-dark cycle promoted growth and development, resulting in accelerated ear emergence when compared to a 12 h cycle, additionally indicating that 12 h of darkness was excessive. To further stimulate heading and increase yield, the 6 h cycle was changed at the onset of stem elongation to a 14 h-10 h, mimicking spring conditions, and maintained until maturity. This successful transition was then combined with two levels of light intensity and nutrient solution, which did not significantly impact yield, while tillering and grain ripening did increase under higher light intensities. Moreover, it enabled manipulation of the baking quality, although lower-end falling numbers were observed. In conclusion, combining a 6 h light-dark cycle until stem elongation with a 14 h-10 h cycle presents a promising strategy for increasing future wheat production in closed environments. The observation of low falling numbers underscores the importance of factoring in flour quality when designing the wheat-growing systems of the future.
在封闭环境中种植小麦（）在室内种植和外层空间种植中均有应用。调整光周期有可能缩短生长周期，从而增加每年的种植周期数。由于小麦是长日照植物，需要短于临界长度的夜晚来诱导开花。在生长室中，进行了实验以研究6小时明暗周期对小麦抽穗时间、籽粒产量和面粉品质的影响。在每日光照积分相同的条件下，6小时明暗周期促进了生长发育，与12小时周期相比，抽穗加快，这也表明12小时的黑暗时间过长。为了进一步促进抽穗并提高产量，在茎伸长开始时将6小时周期改为14小时 - 10小时，模拟春季条件，并维持到成熟。然后将这种成功的转变与两种光照强度和营养液水平相结合，这对产量没有显著影响，而在较高光照强度下分蘖和籽粒成熟确实增加了。此外，虽然观察到较低的降落数值，但它能够控制烘焙品质。总之，在茎伸长前结合6小时明暗周期与14小时 - 10小时周期是在封闭环境中提高未来小麦产量的一种有前景的策略。低降落数值的观察结果强调了在设计未来小麦种植系统时考虑面粉品质的重要性。
