Effects of Elevated CO2 and Light Intensity on Growth, Yield, and Nutritional Quality of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in Controlled Environment Agriculture Systems
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ajlsi.v4i1.4353Keywords:
CO2 Enrichment, Controlled Environmental Agriculture, Light Intensity, Nutritional Quality, Tomato YieldAbstract
Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) is an improved cultivation system that promotes plant development by optimizing environmental factors such as carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and light intensity. This study considered the interactive effects of enhanced levels of CO2 (400-1000 ppm) and varying light intensities (200-600 µmol/m2/s) on growth characters, yield, and nutritional composition of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Under hydroponics conditions, a factorial experiment was conducted in a climate-controlled greenhouse and plant physiological responses, productivity, and fruit quality were assessed. Higher level of CO2 and light significantly increased plant height, leaf area, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate, and yield. The highest yield (6.86 kg/plant) was recorded at an 800 ppm CO2 and 600 µmol/m2/s light intensity regime, while peak values for fruit weight and dry matter concentration impetuous at 1000 ppm CO2. Nutrition content of fruit showed varied response for CO2-light interaction. With increased CO2 and light intensity, the highest lycopene content attained was 12.69 mg/100 g at 1000 ppm CO2 and 600 µmol/m2/s light. Conversely, increasing CO2 concentrations push vitamin C and protein content lower, probably due to nutrient dilution effects driven by biomass growth. These results highlight the need to pair CO2 enrichment with light supplementation in optimizing the productivity-nutrition quality balance. An optimal combination of CO2 and light intensity on the range of 800-1000 ppm CO2 and 600 µmol/m2/s offers useful understandings for greenhouse and vertical farming systems. Future studies must investigate long term effects on post-harvest quality and economic feasibility to keep improving CO2-light management strategies in CEA systems.
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