Location: Food Quality Laboratory
Project Number: 8042-30600-002-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Jun 29, 2025
End Date: Jun 28, 2030
Objective:
Objective 1: Explore use of novel plant regulators to identify natural analogs and characterize the underlying mechanics to regulate postharvest physiology, including fruit ripening and sprouting processes, maintain quality, and reduce food loss.
Sub-objective 1.A: Screen natural CAD and PAD analogs to control plant tissue development, including fruit ripening and tuber sprouting.
Sub-objective 1.B: Identify the candidate genes and signaling pathways that regulate fruit ripening and tuber dormancy in response to CAD treatment.
Objective 2: Improve the productivity and quality of microgreens by using simultaneous physical and chemical precision approaches in controlled environments that mimic urban and space farming.
Sub-objective 2.A: Determine the synergy of added CAD and PAD with precision lighting conditions to optimize baby greens yield and quality.
Approach:
For identifying the natural analog of new growth regulaors CAD and PAD (Sub-Objective 1.A), in silico database screening of millions of natural compound collections will be carried out based on their chemical structural similarity and known functional annotations. About twenty candidate compounds for CAD and PAD respectively will be used for broccoli and strawberry seed germination test. Five most effective analogs on inhibiting and promoting seed germination will be used for strawberry fruit development and ripening tests and potato sprouting inhibition evaluation to identify the most effective CAD and PAD analogs. To comapre the meachnics of CAD on strawberry fruit ripening and potato sprouting inhibition, a global gene expression will be studied to identify candidate genes related to strawberry fruit ripening and biosynthesis of sugars, acids and phenylpropanoids, as well as potato tuber dormancy and sprouting (Sub-Objective 1.B). Selected genes can be verified by quantitative Polymerase chain reaction method and used as functional markers for industry management and breeders.
For Sub-Objective 2.A, collections of 20 lettuce cultivars will be grown under low light intenstity in order to identify the cultivars better adapting to low light and reduce energy cost, a major factor limiting indoor farming. Seeds will be sanitized by heat treatment to remove seed borne pathogens and promote seed germination. Seedlings will be treated with LED light under low light intensities plus other stresses such as CAD and PAD to promote yield and beneficial compounds to humans. Microgreen growth and quality at the production level will be evaluated to determine the best practice for microgreen yield and quality with low energy cost. In collaboration with NASA, the protocols developed will be applied to microgreens under microgravity to test whether they can be used for growing microgreens in space with high yield and quality.