Vol. 31 No. 3 (2017)
Articles

Commercial advantages on basil architecture by ultraviolet-B irradiation

A. Ciurli
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Agro-Ambientali, Università di Pisa, Via Mariscoglio, 34, 56124 Pisa, Italia
T. Huarancca Reyes
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Agro-Ambientali, Università di Pisa, Via Mariscoglio, 34, 56124 Pisa, Italia
L. Guglielminetti
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Agro-Ambientali, Università di Pisa, Via Mariscoglio, 34, 56124 Pisa, Italia Centro interdipartimentale di ricerca "Nutraceutica e alimentazione per la salute", Università di Pisa, Via del Borghetto, 80, 56124 Pìsa, Italia.

Published 2017-06-22

Keywords

  • Fresh market advantages,
  • Ocimum basilicum,
  • plant architecture

How to Cite

Ciurli, A., Huarancca Reyes, T., & Guglielminetti, L. (2017). Commercial advantages on basil architecture by ultraviolet-B irradiation. Advances in Horticultural Science, 31(3), 215–221. https://doi.org/10.13128/ahs-20460

Abstract

Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is one of the most important herbs widely used for its medicinal properties and as food ingredient. The marketing of this product highlights the problem that these plants have long and slender stems, which are easy to break off and thus making difficult their market distribution. In this work, two cultivars of basil (Genovese and Profumo) at the adequate development stage for sale were used. We evaluated the effect of supplemental ultraviolet (UV)-B irradiation (15 W m-2; 3 h day-1) on plant growth and market quality. Both cultivars of basil plants under UV-B irradiation resulted in increased leaf size and biomass, and decreased shoot length in comparison to that of under control growth conditions. These results indicate that the application of UV-B irradiation beneficially influenced plant architecture in basil improving their greenhouse production for fresh market.