Exploring the Effects of Light–Water Interaction in Plant Factory to Improve the Yield and Quality of <i>Panax notoginseng</i> (Burkill) F. H. Chen
<i>Panax notoginseng</i> (Burkill) F. H. Chen, as a traditional Chinese medicinal herb with significant therapeutic effects, is highly sensitive to environmental factors during its growth process, particularly light and water conditions. Under traditional field conditions, natural limita...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/2/368 |
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| Summary: | <i>Panax notoginseng</i> (Burkill) F. H. Chen, as a traditional Chinese medicinal herb with significant therapeutic effects, is highly sensitive to environmental factors during its growth process, particularly light and water conditions. Under traditional field conditions, natural limitations make it difficult to achieve optimal yield and quality. This study aimed in the past to determine the optimal light–water interaction model for the year-round cultivation of <i>P. notoginseng</i> in a controlled plant factory environment. The experiment used one-year-old, uniformly grown <i>P. notoginsen</i> seedlings. At the beginning of the experiment, the light source, without any shading treatment, provided a photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) intensity of 200 μmol·m<sup>−2</sup>·s<sup>−1</sup>, measured at a distance of 30 cm from the plant canopy. A total of 18 treatment combinations were established, specifically two different light quality treatments (A Treatment with a red-to-blue light ratio of 4:1 and B Treatment with a red-to-blue light ratio of 5:1) were each combined with three irrigation levels (field water capacities of 40%, 50%, and 60%) and three shading levels (one layer of 60% shading net, two layers of 60% shading net, and three layers of 60% shading net). Each light quality treatment was combined with all three irrigation levels and all three shading levels, resulting in 18 distinct treatment combinations. The effects of different light–water interactions on <i>P. notoginseng</i> growth were evaluated by measuring key agronomic traits, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, and ginsenoside content. The results indicate that light–water interactions significantly affect the agronomic traits, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, and ginsenoside content of <i>P. notoginseng</i> (light treatment had a more significant impact on the growth of <i>P. notoginsen</i> than water treatment). The best performance in terms of plant height (15.3 cm), stem diameter (3.45 mm), leaf length (8.6 cm), fresh weight (3.382 g), and total ginsenoside content (3.8%) was observed when the red-to-blue light ratio was 4:1 (A Treatment), the field water capacity was 50%, and the shading level was three layers. Based on this, the Pearson correlation analysis was used to identify eight highly correlated indicators, and the entropy-weighted TOPSIS model was applied to comprehensively evaluate the cultivation schemes. The evaluation results show that the optimal cultivation scheme for <i>P. notoginseng</i> is under the conditions of a red-to-blue light ratio of 4:1 (A Treatment), field water capacity of 50%, and three-layer shading. |
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| ISSN: | 2073-4395 |