Use of LEDs for shelf life extension of leafy greens

在加拿大的杂货店里，每年有超过70亿美元的新鲜农产品被浪费，主要是因为商店更喜欢展示/销售看起来对顾客有吸引力的农产品。这不仅造成了与食物浪费相关的负面社会和环境内涵，而且还代表了加拿大零售商的收入来源损失，并且是纳税人支付大笔费用来处理生物质的成本。我们实验室最近的一项研究表明，用正确的LED灯的强度和波长来照射蔬菜，可以延长蔬菜的保质期，而不是目前在杂货店里发现的荧光灯。暴露在适当的led下可以通过调节植物呼吸来防止叶类蔬菜枯萎，从而保持叶子的“脆脆”。

More than $7 billion of fresh produce is wasted in Canadian grocery stores every year, primarily because stores prefer to showcase/sell produce that looks appealing to their customers. This not only creates a negative social and environmental connotation associated with food wastage, but it also represents a lost revenue stream for Canadian retailers and is a cost to taxpayers who pay large sums to dispose of the biomass. A recent study in our laboratory has shown that the shelf-life of vegetables can be increased by illuminating them with the correct intensity and wavelength of LED lights, instead of the fluorescent lamps that are currently found in grocery stores. Exposure to the correct LEDs can prevent wilting in leafy vegetables by regulating plant respiration thereby conserving leaf 'crunchiness'. The LED light manufacturer, U Technology Corporation has identified postharvest storage of fruits and vegetables as a potential market segment that they can capture. However, while U Technology Corporation currently manufactures LEDs for profile lighting in the domestic and commercial sectors but their lights are not geared towards vegetable storage. Moreover, although the effects of LED wavelengths on biomass preservation have been researched, few studies have been done to look into the impact of light intensity on fruits and vegetables. As a result, this collaborative research project was initiated between U Technology Corporation and McGill University to test different LED wavelengths at different intensities to study the versatility of LEDs in postharvest storage of spinach, kale and basil. The principal applicant, Dr. Lefsrud, has an established research program in the enhancement and control of plant growth environments with 26 publications in the area. He is an expert in plant production with different lighting systems (LED and other supplemental lighting), nutrient delivery systems and heating of controlled environments. Mr. Kam Hammad is the Chief Executive Officer of U Technology Corporation with over 10 years of experience in conducting lighting audits and LED fabrication.