title: Mild Fe-deficiency improves biomass production and quality of hydroponic-cultivated spinach plants (Spinacia oleracea L.).
abstract: It is of great practical importance to improve yield and quality of vegetables in soilless cultures. This study investigated the effects of iron-nutrition management on yield and quality of hydroponic-cultivated spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.). The results showed that mild Fe-deficient treatment (1 μM FeEDTA) yielded a greater biomass of edible parts than Fe-omitted treatment (0 μM FeEDTA) or Fe-sufficient treatments (10 and 50 μM FeEDTA). Conversely, mild Fe-deficient treatment had the lowest nitrate concentration in the edible parts out of all the Fe treatments. Interestingly, all the concentrations of soluble sugar, soluble protein and ascorbate in mild Fe-deficient treatments were higher than Fe-sufficient treatments. In addition, both phenolic concentration and DPPH scavenging activity in mild Fe-deficient treatments were comparable with those in Fe-sufficient treatments, but were higher than those in Fe-omitted treatments. Therefore, we concluded that using a mild Fe-deficient nutrition solution to cultivate spinach not only would increase yield, but also would improve quality.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Lab of Environmental Remediation and Ecosystem Health, College of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Chong-Wei
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Qian-Qian
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shao-Ting
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Du
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D018527:Hydroponics; D000090463:Iron Deficiencies; D009566:Nitrates / Q000378:metabolism; D018724:Spinacia oleracea / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D014675:Vegetables / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009566:Nitrates