Plant factories: A new industry for the production of high-value crops

In such production systems, all production factors can be fully controlled. Since the final product is a result of genes and environment, plants growing in a plant factory can be given certain properties by adapting the growing environment. In particular, adapting the light is interesting in this context. This opens up possibilities for producing e.g. “functional foods” in plant factories.

The current project focuses on increasing the nutritional value of edible products, i.e. content of e.g. proteins, sugars, and carotenoids. Preliminary studies show that short-wavelength light in particular is of great importance for the synthesis of these substances in the plant. The use of so-called End-of-production treatments with different light qualities will therefore be a central methodology in the project.