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Agricultural Water Management 285 (2023) 108365

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Agricultural Water Management


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat

Improving water use efficiency in vertical farming: Effects of growing


systems, far-red radiation and planting density on lettuce cultivation
Laura Carotti a, Alessandro Pistillo a, Ilaria Zauli a, Davide Meneghello b, Michael Martin c,
Giuseppina Pennisi a, *, Giorgio Gianquinto a, Francesco Orsini a
a
Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, DISTAL – Department of Agricultural and Food Science, Viale Giuseppe Fanin 44, 40127, Bologna, Italy
b
FRM srl, Piazza Manifattura 1, 38068 Rovereto, Italy
c
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Valhallavägen 81, 114 28 Stockholm, Sweden

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Handling Editor - R. Thompson Vertical farms (VFs) are innovative urban production facilities consisting of multi-level indoor systems equipped
with artificial lighting in which all the environmental conditions are controlled independently from the external
Keywords: climate. VFs are generally provided with a closed loop fertigation system to optimize the use of water and nu­
Plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) trients. The objective of this study, performed within an experimental VF at the University of Bologna, was to
Aeroponics
quantify the water use efficiency (WUE, ratio between plant fresh weight and the volume of water used) for a
Ebb-and-flow
lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) growth cycle obtained in two different growing systems: an ebb-and-flow substrate
Closed-loop systems
Circularity culture and a high pressure aeroponic system. Considering the total water consumed (water used for irrigation
and climate management), WUE of ebb-and-flow and aeroponics was 28.1 and 52.9 g L− 1 H2O, respectively.
During the growing cycle, the contribution generated by the recovery of internal air moisture from the heating,
ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, was quantified. Indeed, by recovering water from the dehu­
midifier, water use decreases dramatically (by 67 %), while WUE increased by 206 %. Further improvement of
WUE in the ebb-and-flow system was obtained through ameliorated crop management strategies, in particular,
by increasing planting densities (e.g., 153, 270 and 733 plants m− 2) and by optimizing the light spectrum used
for plant growth (e.g., adjusting the amount of far-red radiation in the spectrum). Strategies for efficient use of
water in high-tech urban indoor growing systems are therefore proposed.

1. Introduction using high planting density (Kozai and Niu, 2016; Avgoustaki and Xydis,
2021). In this plant production system, all the environmental parame­
Producing more food while using fewer natural resources is one of ters may be precisely controlled guaranteeing a stable year-round pro­
the biggest challenges in the climate change adaptation processes duction, independently from outside conditions and season (Orsini et al.,
(Wiebe et al., 2019; Malhi et al., 2021). Agricultural activities have a 2020; van Delden et al., 2021; Kalantari et al., 2018).
great impact on freshwater availability, accounting for about 70 % of Vertical farming is highlighted as one of the horticultural strategies
freshwater withdrawals (FAO, 2014). Moreover, according to climate that can lead to a great resource use efficiency (Orsini et al., 2020; Kozai
prediction models, rising temperatures in several countries will result in and Niu, 2016), defined as the amount of resource fixed or utilized by
severe water shortages (Agovino et al., 2019). Considering these sce­ plants compared to the amount of resource supplied to the system (Kozai
narios, the implementation of innovative technologies enabling to and Niu, 2016). When compared to greenhouses, VFs have demon­
reduce water use, while maintaining or increasing the yield, is a priority strated to reduce the water use by 28–95 %, according to the
for the agricultural sector (Incrocci et al., 2020; Michelon et al., 2021). geographical area in which the growing facilities are located and the
Among these innovative technologies, vertical farms (VFs) are in­ greenhouse technologies adopted (Graamans et al., 2018). Defining the
door growing structures completely insulated from the outside envi­ water use efficiency (WUE) as the grams of fresh weight (FW) produced
ronment, generally located in urban and peri-urban environments, per liter of water used in the system, literature reports that lettuce
where plants are normally cultivated in multi-layer growing systems production in VFs can reach values as high as 80 g FW L− 1 H2O,

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: giuseppina.pennisi@unibo.it (G. Pennisi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2023.108365
Received 11 January 2023; Received in revised form 10 May 2023; Accepted 11 May 2023
Available online 23 May 2023
0378-3774/© 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
L. Carotti et al. Agricultural Water Management 285 (2023) 108365

significantly greater than those obtained in greenhouse and open field wavelengths (e.g., red and blue). Since LED lights allow for a fine-tuning
for the same crop (up to 60 and 20 g FW L− 1 H2O, respectively) (Orsini of the spectrum emitted by the lamps (Massa et al., 2008), precisely
et al., 2020). These great performances are mainly due to the use of managing the far-red radiation, and in particular its intensity, can be a
modern soilless growing systems, where irrigation is usually operated on strategy to increase yield.
a closed loop (Al-Kodmany, 2018; Orsini et al., 2020). The adoption of an optimal planting density is an important
Soilless systems are generally classified into substrate culture and parameter in VFs where higher densities as compared to other cultiva­
hydroponic culture (Gruda, 2020). In both systems, water supplies nu­ tion systems (e.g., greenhouses or open field) are usually used to
trients to the roots in the form of a nutrient solution. In substrate culture, improve yield per unit of area (Jin et al., 2022; Orsini et al., 2020). In the
plants are commonly hosted in pots with an inert substrate and nutrient case of lettuce cultivation, several studies carried out in VFs or growth
solution is continuously or periodically distributed, as in the case of the chambers use a planting density of around 140 plants m− 2 on average
ebb-and-flow system. In the hydroponic culture plant roots are directly (Jin et al., 2022). Considering that environmental factors can potentially
in contact with the nutrient solution without any solid material (Gruda, be non-limiting, testing higher planting densities, in combination with
2020; Eldridge et al., 2020). There are different types of hydroponic precise management of cultivation techniques, can lead to an increase in
cultures, which differ mainly in the way the nutrient solution is circu­ resource use efficiency, decreasing the crop water use and increasing the
lated. Some examples are the deep-water culture (DWC), where the roots light capture from the canopy (Ramin Shamshiri et al., 2018).
are constantly submerged in the nutrient solution, and the aeroponic To the best of our knowledge, there is very little work comparing
cultivation, where plant roots are periodically sprayed with a fine mist water use in aeroponics and ebb-and-flow using the same environmental
of nutrient solution (Lakhiar et al., 2018; Eldridge et al., 2020). Thanks conditions in a vertical farm with artificial light. Accordingly, the ob­
to a more precise management of the root zone, the aeroponic system is jectives of this work were: 1) evaluating water use efficiency in a vertical
usually claimed to better performing, although limited literature has to farm for lettuce production, considering both the adoption of closed loop
date addressed the comparison with other more widely used soilless soilless systems and the contribution from the water recovery from the
systems for vertical farming, such as the ebb-and-flow (Eldridge et al., HVAC system; 2) comparatively assess the water use efficiency perfor­
2020; Orsini et al., 2020). mances and the lettuce growth in a vertical farm either adopting an ebb-
Independently from the system typology, the adoption of closed and-flow or an aeroponic system; 3) explore and describe the effect of
loops allows for the re-use of water and nutrients drained from the different cultivation techniques on water use efficiency in the ebb-and-
growing layer. After checking its pH and EC and restoring nutrients’ flow system, such as the specific management of far-red radiation in the
level to set point values, the nutrient solution may be used again to water light spectrum and the use of increasing planting density.
the plants (Avgoustaki and Xydis, 2021). In this way, WUE is maximized,
and both water and nutrients that have not been used by plants may be 2. Materials and methods
recycled (Putra and Yuliando, 2015; Langenfeld et al., 2022), also
reducing impacts on eutrophication processes (Rufí-Salís et al., 2020). 2.1. Experimental facility and growing conditions
Beside the specific characteristics of the cultivation system, WUE can
be improved through an adequate microclimate management and the The trials have been conducted within AlmaVFarm, an experimental
ability to reuse water collected from the heating, ventilation and air vertical farm located in the Department of Agricultural and Food Sci­
conditioning (HVAC) system (Katsoulas et al., 2015). Due to plants ences at the University of Bologna. The facility is composed by an
transpiration, air moisture is high within VFs, and through the isothermal cell (45 m2), containing two growing system typologies,
condensation process it is possible to recover water that can be reused respectively an ebb-and-flow and a high pressure aeroponic (Frm srl,
for irrigation, thus creating a close water cycle (Jurga et al., 2023; Soussi Rovereto, TN, Italy), organized in 22 cultivation sectors (10 ebb-and-
et al., 2022). Several theoretical models have estimated the contribution flow + 12 aeroponics), each composed by 3 stacked levels. Each level
of water recovered from the HVAC system in both greenhouses (Lovichit consists of a cultivation tray with a surface of 0.53 m2. Additionally, 3
et al., 2007; Yildiz and Stombaugh, 2006) and vertical farms (Pacak more aeroponic sectors are dedicated to germination, with 5 stacked
et al., 2020), and given the interest in this type of analysis, it is estimated growing layers. Additional details on the spatial arrangement of the
that the number of models will increase in the coming years. In contrast, facility are given in Fig. 1 A and B.
the number of studies that empirically quantify the contribution of water The facility is equipped with a heating, ventilation and air condi­
recovered from the HVAC system is still limited. tioning (HVAC) system (Monti&C srl, Borgo a Buggiano, PT, Italy) for
The advanced cultivation techniques and detailed cultivation pro­ cooling, heating and ventilating, and with a dehumidifier consisting of a
tocols tailored to the crop needs are also recognized as having a key role duct system for supply and return of treated air that recovers the water
in increasing WUE (Orsini et al., 2023; Tavan et al., 2021). Controlled transpired by the plants. The ventilation system avoids air stratification,
growing conditions that are applied in a vertical farm can in fact in­ by recirculating internal air. An hourly exchange rate with the external
crease yield or decrease the required water contribution, as for instance atmosphere was set at 0.03 m3 m3 h− 1. During the trials, air temperature
in the case of CO2 concentration (Langenfeld et al., 2022) and light and humidity of the vertical farm were set at 24/21 ± 1 ◦ C day/night
characteristics. and 70/75 ± 10 % day/night respectively, and additional CO2 was
For what concerns the light, many studies have examined the effects supplied in order to maintain a constant concentration of 850 ppm.
of light quality on crops’ growth and quality (Pennisi et al., 2019; The growing systems consist of closed-loop water cycles, with the
Appolloni et al., 2021). Particularly for growth, the major research effort drained water returning to a water tank, where fertigator (NidoPro®,
has been focused on the effect of modulation of red (600–700 nm) and LogicSun, Cattolica, RN, Italy) checks (96-time day− 1), and if necessary,
blue (400− 500 nm) wavelengths, which match the absorption peaks of corrects pH and EC parameters before returning the nutrient solution to
the principal pigments (chlorophyll a and b) involved in light absorption the water pump and then to the system. The same nutrient solution
for photosynthesis (Son and Oh, 2015). Far-red radiation (700–780 nm), formulation (EC=2.3 dS m− 1 ± 0.2, pH=6.5 ± 0.2) was used for each
on the other hand, has traditionally been excluded from the definition of experiment, with the following composition: N-NO3: 14 mM; N-NH4:
photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) since its contribution to 4.4 mM; P: 1.0 mM; K: 5.0 mM; S: 2.0 mM; Ca: 5.2 mM; Mg: 1.2 mM; Fe:
plants’ photosynthesis has always been considered negligible when 17.9 μM, Cu: 2.0 μM, Zn: 3.8 μM, B: 11.6 μM, Mn: 18.2 μM, Mo: 0.5 μM.
applied alone (McCree, 1971). However, recent studies showed that in In the aeroponic sectors, where each tray contained 4 nozzles
addition to morphological responses (Demotes-Mainard et al., 2016; Zou (diameter of the nozzle orifice = 0.2 mm), the pressured (70 bar)
et al., 2019), far-red radiation can positively boost photosynthesis (Zhen nutrient solution was nebulized to the plants’ roots every 15 min for 90 s
and Bugbee, 2020), when applied in combination with shorter during the whole growing cycle. Considering the pressure and the

2
L. Carotti et al. Agricultural Water Management 285 (2023) 108365

Fig. 1. A) Aerial view of the experimental vertical farm. Green rectangles are the aeroponic sectors dedicated to the germination, red rectangles the aeroponic sectors
dedicated to plants’ growth and blue rectangles the ebb-and-flow sectors dedicated to plants’ growth. In grey, the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning)
system components: 1) air conditioner; 2) ventilator 3) humidifier; 4) outdoor air exchanger; 5) dehumidifier and 6) CO2 supply components. In light blue, pipes to
move water recovered from dehumidifier to water recovery tank (in purple). Circles represent the fertigation units (in blue for ebb-and-flow, in red for aeroponics, in
green for germination sectors). B) Aeroponic units. C) Detail of nozzles disposition in the aeroponic trays.

diameter of the nozzle orifice, droplets between 10 and 30 µm were paragraphs below. Table 2 shows a summary of the three experiments
generated (nozzles are visible in Fig. 1 C). In the ebb-and-flow sectors, performed.
the nutrient solution was circulated once a day for 30 min for the first
two weeks of each growing cycle (from 1 to 14 DAT), and twice a day for
2.2. Experiment 1 (exp. 1): lettuce growth and water use
20 min each for the last two weeks (from 15 DAT to end of the cycle). A
summary of the environmental parameters and the nutrient solution is
The first experiment started on February 14, 2022 and ended on
given in Table 1.
March 29, 2022. Lettuce seeds (Lactuca sativa L. var. Canasta) were sown
Three different experiments were conducted, as reported in the
in plastic net-pots containing plugs of a biodegradable polymer

Table 1
Summary of the environmental parameters kept constant (temperature (◦ C), relative humidity (%), photoperiod (h day− 1), pH, electrical conductivity (dS m− 1) and
CO2 level (ppm)) during the experimental period.
Temperature Relative humidity (%) Photoperiod pH Electrical conductivity (dS m− 1) CO2 level
(◦ C) (h d− 1) (ppm)

24/21 ± 1 day/night 70/75 ± 10 day/night 16 6.5 ± 0.2 2.3 ± 0.2 850

3
L. Carotti et al. Agricultural Water Management 285 (2023) 108365

Table 2
Aim of the experiment, type of growing system adopted (ebb-and-flow or aeroponics), planting density (plants m− 2), and light spectrum used for experiment 1, 2 and 3.
For light spectrum, RB3 refers to a spectrum composed by red and blue radiation, in a specific ratio of 3:1. RB3-30, RB3-50 and RB3-70 refer to an RB3 spectrum where
30, 50 and 70 μmol m− 2 s− 1 of red and blue radiation have been replaced by the same amount of far-red radiation.
Experiment Aim Growing system Planting density (plants m− 2) Light spectrum

1 Lettuce growth and water use in AlmaVFarm Ebb-and-flow 153 RB3


Aeroponics 131 RB3
2 Optimization of light spectrum Ebb-and-flow 153 Experimental: RB3, RB3-30, RB3-50 and RB3-70
3 Optimization of planting density Ebb-and-flow Experimental: 153, 270 and 733 RB3

(GROWFOAM®, Foamplant BV, Groningen, The Netherlands) and February 14, 2022 to March 28, 2022) and involved 4 ebb-and-flow
placed in the aeroponic system dedicated to germination. Light was cultivation sectors. Germination phase was the same as that described
provided by red and blue LED lighting (Flytech srl, Belluno, Italy), in a in exp. 1. At transplanting (14 DAS), 4 lighting spectra were applied: the
specific ratio of 3:1 (RB3; Pennisi et al., 2019), with a PPFD of 200 μmol RB3 spectrum was used as a control, and 30, 50 or 70 µmol m− 2 s− 1
m− 2 s− 1 and a photoperiod of 16 h d− 1. At the second true leaf stage, 14 (namely RB3-30, RB3-50 and RB3-70, respectively) of red and blue ra­
days after sowing (DAS), plants were moved into their final growing diation were substituted by the same amount of far-red radiation (FR,
systems. For the ebb-and-flow system, plants were transplanted into peak at 729 nm). In all light treatments the ratio between red and blue
6 × 6×7 cm (0.20 L) plastic pots containing peat, and then placed into radiation was maintained constant at 3:1 (RB3), as also the photon flux
the stacked levels with a planting density of 153 plants m− 2, occupying a density (set at 200 µmol m− 2 s− 1) and the photoperiod (16 h d− 1).
total surface of 11.4 m2. The transplanting into the ebb-and-flow system Specific characteristics of the lighting regimes, such as the far-red
took place in the vertical farm itself: the plants, altogether with the fraction (Kusuma and Bugbee, 2021), are given in Table 3. Nutrient
plugs, were gently removed from the net-pots and transplanted into the solution, fertigation cycles and environmental conditions are reported in
plastic pots filled with peat, avoiding any potential damage to the roots. Section 2.1 .
For the aeroponic system, the plants within the plastic net-pots were Plants were harvested at 29 DAT. Measures were carried out on 5
simply placed into the trays with a planting density of 131 plant m− 2, plants per treatment, for a total of 15 plants per sector. LFW and LDW,
occupying a total surface of 15.0 m2. Although we acknowledge that the stomatal conductance and leaf greenness were measured as reported for
different planting density could have altered the amount of lighting exp. 1. Leaf area was assessed through the open software and app Easy
received by plants in the two systems, as well as their final yield, the aim Leaf Area, developed by University of California (USA). DMC was
of the research was to comparatively assess performances in a calculated as reported for exp. 1 and leaf area index (LAI) was calculated
commercially productive setting, e.g., adopting commonly used items by dividing the total leaf area by the unit of ground.
(net-pots, pots, trays) in each of the two systems tested. Nutrient solu­
tion, fertigation cycles and environmental conditions are described in
2.4. Experiment 3 (exp. 3): optimization of planting density in ebb-and-
Section 2.1. In the aeroponic system, light conditions were the ones
flow system
applied during germination (spectrum RB3, PPFD of 200 μmol m− 2 s− 1,
photoperiod of 16 h d− 1), while in the ebb-and-flow system, different
The third experiment started on June 6, 2022 and ended on July 22,
spectra were applied, as explained in Section 2.3. For the analysis of
2022. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. Canasta) seeds were sown into
growth and physiological data, only plants grown under RB3 spectrum
polystyrene containers filled with peat where they remained for 14 days,
were considered, corresponding to 12 sectors for the aeroponics and 2
inside a growth chamber. Temperature was set at 20/18 ◦ C day/night
sectors for the ebb-and-flow system.
and HPS lamps with an intensity of 200 μmol m− 2s− 1 and a photoperiod
Plants were harvested 30 days after transplanting (DAT). Measures
of 16 h d− 1 were used. After 14 DAS, with the second true leaf well
were carried out on 5 plants per level, for a total of 15 plants per sector.
developed, plants were moved into the vertical farm and transplanted in
Leaf fresh weight (LFW) and leaf dry weight (LDW) (obtained after
3 ebb-and-flow cultivation sectors, where three different planting den­
drying the leaves for 72 h at 48 ◦ C) were measured with a precision
sities were applied, namely 153, 270 and 733 plants m− 2. For the first
balance. Yield was calculated by multiplying the LFW by the number of
two planting densities, lettuces have been transplanted in peat-filled
plants per m2, and the dry matter content (DMC) by the ratio between
plastic pots (6 ×6×7 cm; 0.20 L), while for the highest density (733
LDW and LFW. Stomatal conductance was assessed using a leaf poro­
plants m− 2) plants have been kept in the same polystyrene containers
meter (AP4, Delta-T Devices, Cambridge, United Kingdom) taking three
used for germination. Although, it is recognized that the different con­
measurements for each of the two most developed leaves. Leaf greenness
tainers may have altered plants root system and the overall plant
was estimated using a hand-held leaf chlorophyll meter (SPAD-502,
development, it was chosen to adopt technical solutions that would
Konica Minolta, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan) by performing three measure­
normally be pursued by a grower (e.g., when using lower density,
ments for each of the two most developed leaves. From the transplanting
increasing pot size). An RB3 spectrum, with 200 µmol m− 2 s− 1 and a
until the final harvest, all water consumptions associated with the
photoperiod of 16 h d− 1 were applied for the entire growth cycle in all
various components of the systems were monitored. The water entering
the sectors. With the exclusion of the germination period, nutrient so­
the system was monitored daily by means of flowmeters at the general
lution, fertigation cycles and environmental conditions were the same as
water input and at the pumps of the ebb-and-flow and aeroponic sys­
those described in Section 2.1 . Harvesting was performed at 20 and 33
tems. In addition, specifically for the exp. 1, water recovered from the
DAT (measuring 12 plants per level, for a total of 36 plants per treat­
HVAC system, which under normal conditions returns water to the
ment). LFW, LDW, yield and DMC were evaluated as described in exp. 1.
fertigation units, was diverted onto another tank, in order to be
For the monitoring of water consumption, the same procedure described
quantified.
for exp. 1 was used.

2.3. Experiment 2 (exp. 2): optimization of the light spectrum in the ebb- 2.5. Water use efficiency analysis
and-flow system
The ratio between leaf fresh weight and water used in response to the
Experiment 2 was carried out simultaneously with exp. 1 (from different experimental treatments was used to evaluate different water

4
L. Carotti et al. Agricultural Water Management 285 (2023) 108365

Table 3
Spectral characteristics (red and blue and far-red radiation intensity; µmol m− 2 s− 1), total photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD; µmol m− 2 s− 1, 400–700 nm), total
photon flux density (PFD; µmol m− 2 s− 1, 400–780 nm), far-red fraction (FR/R+FR) and percentage of far-red radiation in the spectrum for the four different light
treatments: RB3, RB3-30, RB3-50 and RB3-70.
Light treatments RB3 FR Total PPFD Total PFD FR fraction (FR/R+FR) FR percentage (%)
2 − 1 2 − 1
(μmol m− s ) (μmol m− s ) (μmol m− 2 s− 1, 400–700 nm) (μmol m− 2 s− 1, 400–780 nm)

RB3 200 0 200 200 0 0


RB3-30 170 30 170 200 0.2 15
RB3-50 150 50 150 200 0.3 25
RB3-70 130 70 130 200 0.4 35

use efficiency scenarios. For exp. 1, depending on the scenario consid­ flow and high pressure aeroponic systems were considered, both
ered for the analysis, water use (WU) was calculated as the water equipped with close-loop water recirculation systems. For the lettuce
consumed for the irrigation (Wi): growing cycle carried out simultaneously in the ebb-and-flow and in
aeroponics (exp. 1), 1870 L of water were used (Table 4). The liters used
WU = Wi (1)
were allocated between the various components as follow: 767 L for
or Wi plus the water used for the HVAC system and farm operations (Wc) irrigation in the ebb-and-flow system (67.0 L m− 2), 504 L for irrigation
(2): in the aeroponic system (33.5 L m− 2) and 599 L used both from the
HVAC system and by operators for daily cleaning operations. In the
WU t = Wi + Wc (2) latter case, the total amount of water used was divided by the total
surface of the facility, resulting in 13.3 L m− 2.
For the scenario in which the water recovered by the dehumidifier
Water used for irrigation and by the HVAC system and operations
was considered, the WU (WUf) was calculated by subtracting the water
accounted for 68 % and 32 % of the total (Table 4), respectively. Usually,
recovered from the HVAC system (Wr) from WUt (3):
moving the water utilization efficiency assessment from a growth
WU f = WU t − Wr (3) chamber to a larger facility, water use increases mainly due to the
amount of water employed for cleaning and sanitizing operations.
For exp. 2 and 3, water use efficiency variations were only deter­
Indeed, Ohyama et al. (2020) reported using 70 % of total water use for
mined by change in fresh weight. Indeed, water use was not measured
operations such as trays and equipment cleaning. This percentage of
individually for the different treatments. For these experiments, WUf
course, can widely vary according to the type of operations that are
was used.
carried out in the facility. In our case (the research was performed in an
experimental vertical farm, with cleaning operations performed inside
2.6. Statistical analysis the farm), water used for cleaning operations was the only amount of
water not reused by the system, thus accounting for the unique water
Data were analyzed by a one-way ANOVA analysis, using SPSS sta­ loss. Indeed, in our experiments, 67 % of water used as input was
tistic. Significant differences between light treatments were tested by recovered from the HVAC system, accounting for 1263 L (Table 4).
Tukey test at 95 % confidence. There are different ways to collect water from the internal environment.
In the study by Pacak et al. (2020), the potential of water recovery from
3. Results and discussion the exhausted air of the growth chamber using the cross-flow plate heat
exchanger was checked by the application of a mathematical model.
3.1. Water use in AlmaVFarm Results showed that the water recovered was able to cover the water
requirements for irrigation, when the model was applied to moderate
In the experimental vertical farm analyzed in this study, ebb-and- climates.
Beside the theoretical model, the potential of water recover was also
tested by Ohyama et al. (2000) in a study performed in a growth
Table 4
Water use (L and L m− 2) for the various components of the vertical farm during chamber, during a 15-day growth cycle of sweet potato plants. Their
one lettuce growth cycle. Liters per m2 were calculated using the growing area of data showed that up to 76 % of the water supplied can be recovered for
ebb-and-flow and aeroponic systems, respectively. The consumption of the further irrigation through air dehumidification. The higher value ob­
HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system was divided by the tained can be the result of higher temperature (30 ◦ C) and relative hu­
total surface of the growing facility. midity (80 %) adopted in their experiment, which may have led to
Water use in AlmaVFarm L L m− 2 different stomatal activity and thus a different level of water transpired
by plants and different amount of water used. In addition, the type of
Irrigation in the ebb-and-flow system 767 67.0
Irrigation in the aeroponic system 504 33.5 facility and of HVAC system, as well as its efficiency, can affect the
HVAC system (humidification processes) + management 599 13.3 amount of water that it is possible to recover from the dehumidification
operations process (Algarni et al., 2018).
Total water use 1870
Dehumidifier (water recovered from the internal environment) 1263

Table 5
Yield (kg FW m− 2), plant fresh weight (g plant− 1), dry matter content (%), stomatal conductance (mmol m− 2 s− 1) and leaf greenness (SPAD units) for plants grown in
ebb-and-flow and aeroponics. Data ± standard error (n = 15) are reported. Different letters indicate significant differences according to the ANOVA test and the Tukey
post-hoc test for mean separation with p < 0.05.
Growing system Yield Plant fresh weight (g plant− 1) Dry matter content (%) Stomatal conductance (mmol m− 2 − 1
s ) Leaf greenness (SPAD units)
(kg FW m− 2)

Ebb-and-flow 2.3 ± 0.3 a 15.1 ± 1.9 a 9.6 ± 0.5 a 211.3 ± 5.6 a 23.1 ± 0.1 a
Aeroponic 2.2 ± 0.1 a 17.0 ± 0.6 a 9.3 ± 0.2 a 206.9 ± 8.8 a 23.1 ± 0.1 a

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L. Carotti et al. Agricultural Water Management 285 (2023) 108365

3.2. Plants growth and water use efficiency: comparison between ebb- noteworthy considering that aeroponics is a less adopted technology and
and-flow and aeroponics that optimal fertigation strategies for different crops are still poorly
explored. Moreover, aeroponics is often claimed to make oxygen more
With regards to growth, plants cultivated in the two growing systems accessible at roots level, as compared to other typology of substrate
subjected to the same environmental conditions reported comparable culture (Eldridge et al., 2020; Tunio et al., 2021). In our study, the use of
growth. Indeed, yield values were between 2.3 and 2.2 kg m− 2 and leaf an ebb-and-flow system may have avoided the problem of low oxygen
fresh weight ranged 15.1–17.0 g plant− 1 (Table 5), in ebb-and-flow and availability that can be a limiting factor for growth in hydroponic cul­
aeroponics, respectively. tures, especially in system such as the DWC. In our results, no statisti­
In previous research, yields of different growing systems presented cally significant differences were found in dry matter content (mean
different results. According to Chandra et al. (2014), aeroponic culti­ value of 9.5 %) and in the parameters related to the photosynthetic
vation (developed in aeroponic towers located outdoor) of several crops, performances, such as stomatal conductance (mean value of
such as basil, parsley, cherry tomato, squash, bell pepper and kale 209 mmol m− 2 s− 1) and relative chlorophyll content associated with
increased from 19 % to 65 % as compared to on-soil open field culti­ leaf greenness (23.1 SPAD units) (Table 5).
vation. Comparing lettuce growth performances in a Venlo type glass­ Concerning WUE results, the aeroponic system was found to be more
house, Li et al. (2018) reported a greater shoot fresh weight for two efficient than the ebb-and-flow (Fig. 2). Considering only the water used
lettuce cultivars (“Nenglv naiyou” and “Dasusheng”) when cultivated in for irrigation (Wi), aeroponics achieved a WUiE of 69.7 g FW L− 1 H20 as
a nutrient film technique system, as compared to the aeroponic one. At compared to 32.5 g FW L− 1 H20 for the ebb-and-flow, thus leading to a
the same time, both varieties showed an increase in the root:shoot ratio, 114 % increase (Fig. 2 A). Taking also into account the water used by the
when grown in the aeroponic system, meaning that more biomass was HVAC system and water for operations as inputs (WUt), WUtE drops by
allocated to the roots. On the other hand, Puccinelli et al. (2021) showed 14 % and 24 %, reaching values of 28.1 g FW L− 1 H20 for ebb-and-flow
a greater fresh weight in lettuces grown in aeroponics as compared to and 52.9 g FW L− 1 H20 for aeroponics, respectively (Fig. 2B). When
those grown in a floating system (with differences ranging 47–57 % water recovered by dehumidifier was removed from total water used
depending on the experimental treatment). In the same experiment, no (WUf), WUfE increased up to a value of 86.0 g FW L− 1 H2O in the ebb-
differences were found in basil plants grown in the two systems. These and-flow system and 161.9 g FW L− 1 H2O in the aeroponic one
inconsistent trends can be however explained by the different fertigation (Fig. 2 C), resulting in an augment of 206 %. These values are even much
regimes used in the trials. Indeed, the optimization of aeroponics de­ higher than those reported in literature for WUE in vertical farms, with
pends on several variables, e.g., the droplet size, the pressure and the the highest values corresponding to 80 g FW L− 1 H2O for lettuce culti­
frequency for delivering the nutrient solution to the plants (Li et al., vation, although with some variability according to the crop considered
2018), aspects that can influence plants’ growth. This is particularly (Orsini et al., 2020).

Fig. 2. Water Use Efficiency (g FW L− 1 H2O) obtained in the ebb-and-flow (blue) and aeroponic (green) systems under three different scenarios: A) considering as an
input only water used for irrigation (WUi); B) considering as an input water used for irrigation, climate control and management operations in the farm (WUt); C)
considering as an input water used for irrigation, climate control and management operations in the farm minus the water recovered from the dehumidifier (WUf).
Data ± standard error (n = 15) are reported. Different letters indicate significant differences according to the ANOVA test and the Tukey post-hoc test for mean
separation with p < 0.05.

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L. Carotti et al. Agricultural Water Management 285 (2023) 108365

As reported by our data, no differences have been found in plants’ blue spectrum. According to our results, yield already increased with
photosynthetic parameters (Table 5). Therefore, the differences in WUE RB3-30 (+46 %) reaching the highest value with RB3-70 (+64 %), as
between the two systems could be attributed to two main factors: 1) a compared to RB3 (Fig. 3).
more efficient assimilation of water and nutrients in the aeroponics The increase in leaf area is one of the most characterized plants re­
(Tunio et al., 2021), and 2) the lack of substrate in the aeroponic system, sponses in presence of far-red radiation, representing one of the main
that would otherwise retain a percentage of the water given as input, features of the shade avoidance response (Tan et al., 2022). In the
thus preventing its re-use in the close-loop system. Indeed, as reported hereby presented results, this effect was confirmed: LAI increased by 95
by Kozai and Niu (2016), plant tissues and substrates embedded 16 % of % by adding 30 μmol m− 2 s− 1 of far-red radiation up to 173 % with 70
the total water used. In particular, peat, the substrate used for this work, μmol m− 2 s− 1 (Fig. 3). The presence of far-red radiation has been found
has one of the highest water-holding capacities when compared to other to be beneficial, specifically at certain growth stages, such as in seed­
most commonly used substrate for indoor farming (Du et al., 2022). lings, for increasing biomass through the enhancement of leaf area, that
Therefore, in a close-loop system, the substrate may play an important can facilitate the light interception, as shown in Jin et al. (2021) and
role in terms of WUE, aspect that must be balanced with final yield and Park and Runkle (2017).
products quality, that may also be influenced by the typology of sub­ The effect of blue light in enhancing stomatal activity and thus
strate used as shown for instance in red basil microgreens grown with reducing WUE has already been well documented in literature (Pennisi
different substrates (Bulgari et al., 2021). et al., 2019; Clavijo-Herrera et al., 2018). Our results suggest a potential
Although the adoption of the two growing systems did not result in influence of far-red radiation on stomatal conductance, with a signifi­
differences in terms of yield (Table 5), the management of certain root cant reduction by 27 % and 54 % when RB3-50 and RB3-70 were used, as
zone parameters represents an opportunity to optimize yield, especially compared to the control. This result thus indicates that up to
in aeroponics. In fact, the aeroponic system allows for the application of 30 µmol m− 2 s− 1 of far-red radiation replacing the same amount of red
specific cultivation techniques such as the application of CO2 at root and blue radiation in the spectrum, do not affect the stomatal conduc­
level, which can significantly increase lettuce yield, as shown in He et al. tance (Fig. 3). Zhen and Bugbee (2020), adding the same amount of
(2013). white or far-red photons to the spectrum, reported a lower stomatal
conductance in the case of far-red radiation, suggesting that far-red
decreases stomata opening as compared to white radiation. Same re­
3.3. Effects of cultivation techniques on water use efficiency sults were also found in tomato plants exposed to far-red radiation
(Kalaitzoglou et al., 2019). Although different works reported a reduc­
3.3.1. Optimal management of light spectrum tion in the stomatal conductance in presence of far-red radiation, the
Yield, DMC, leaf greenness, stomatal conductance and LAI varied effect of far-red on this physiological activity has not yet been clarified
according to the specific amount of far-red radiation in the spectrum. (Tan et al., 2022). The trends described in this work could be the results
Enriching the spectrum with far-red radiation has demonstrated to in­ of fewer blue photons in the applied spectrum, as a result of the sub­
crease leaf fresh weight, and therefore yield, of lettuce plants. Lee et al. stitution with far-red, or even a direct action of far-red on stomatal
(2016), for the cultivar “Sunmang”, changing the red/far-red ratio from closure. Indeed, some studies performed on Arabidopsis speculate that
0.7 to 4.1, reported an increase ranging 39–50 % as compared to red and far-red radiation may reverse the action of blue light on stomata activity
blue spectrum, while Zou et al. (2019) (for cultivar “Tiberious”) found a (Talbott et al., 2003).
56 % increase adding 50 µmol m− 2 s− 1 of far-red radiation to a red and An interesting trend was observed for the leaf greenness (relative
chlorophyll content), which decreased by 10–21 % increasing the per­
centage of far-red from 0 to 30–70 µmol m− 2 s− 1 (Fig. 3). A reduction in
the chlorophyll content is often attributed to a “dilution effect” whereby
leaf expansion is stimulated by far-red radiation at the expense of total
organic nitrogen in the leaves (Mickens et al., 2018; Li and Kubota,
2009). Zou et al. (2021) reported this effect already with low far-red
radiation in the spectrum (e.g., 15 µmol m− 2 s− 1). The same trend was
found in our results, where the effects of far-red radiation on relative
chlorophyll content was already statistically significant upon
30 µmol m− 2 s− 1, leading to a decrease (− 10 %) (Fig. 3). The effect of
far-red radiation on photosynthetic process is still a matter of debate
since some authors have reported an increase in the photosynthetic
activity in the presence of these wavelengths (Zhen and van Iersel,
2017), while as claimed by other authors the observed increase in yield
is mainly a consequence of the change of certain morphological pa­
rameters (e.g., specific leaf area) (Jin et al., 2021).
According to our results, with the substitution of 30 and
50 µmol m− 2 s− 1 of far-red radiation in the spectrum, DMC remained
unchanged (even if the yield was increased), while with 70 µmol m− 2
s− 1, it reported a 25 % decrease (Fig. 3). Thus, a high amount of far-red
in the spectrum could influence water accumulation processes within
Fig. 3. Yield (kg FW m− 2), water use efficiency (WUE; kg FW L− 1 H20), dry tissues, explaining the increase in yield that was still found with RB3-70.
matter content (DMC; %), leaf greenness (SPAD, SPAD units), stomatal Indeed, a reduction in photosynthetic performances in the presence of
conductance (Stomata; mmol m− 2 s− 1) and leaf area index (LAI, m2 m− 2) for greater amount of far-red radiation (RB3-70) can be hypothesized from
plants grown with the three light treatments: RB3-30, RB3-50 and RB3-70. WUE
the results, as confirmed by the observed reduced stomatal conductance
has been calculated by using WUf according to formula 3 (details in Section 2.5
and chlorophyll content as well as the lower dry matter content (Fig. 3).
). Values (data ± standard error, n = 15) are represented as percentage dif­
ferences from the control, RB3 treatment. The asterisks indicate the presence of On the other hand, up to 50 µmol m− 2 s− 1 of far-red radiation in the
significant differences as compared to RB3, according to the ANOVA test, for spectrum replacing the same intensity of red and blue radiation, seemed
p < 0.05 (*) or p < 0.01 (**). The control treatment values (RB3) are the ones not to reduce the photosynthetic rate when compared to the spectrum
shown in Table 5 for the ebb-and-flow system. composed of only red and blue radiation (RB3). In literature, an increase

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L. Carotti et al. Agricultural Water Management 285 (2023) 108365

in dry matter towards the aerial plants’ organs is reported at low R:FR
ratio (Demotes-Mainard et al., 2016), with a greater allocation to the
stem, as reported for different species by Poorter et al. (2012).
The results of this work highlighted that the precise management of
far-red in the spectrum can also affect the overall WUE of the system,
with an increase ranging 46–64 %, with the highest value achieved with
the greatest amount of far-red in the spectrum (RB3-70) (Fig. 3). To
conclude, the results showed that: 1) different morphological and
physiological responses may require a different "threshold" level of far-
red radiation to be activated and 2) replacing 30–50 μmol m− 2 s− 1 of red
and blue radiation with far-red radiation in the spectrum (15–25 % of
the total radiation in the spectrum) can allow for considerable increases
in WUE without compromising the DMC of the crops.

3.3.2. Optimal management of planting density


The use of three different planting densities resulted in different
plants’ growth at 20 and 33 DAT. At 20 DAT, the highest planting
density (733 plants m− 2) led to an increase in yield (+143 %) as
compared to the planting density used as a control (153 plants m− 2), but
also at the lowest plant fresh weight (2.4 g plant− 1) (Table 6). At 33
DAT, the adoption of a planting density of 270 plants m− 2 resulted in a Fig. 4. Water Use Efficiency (WUE; g FW L− 1 H20 ± standard error) obtained
91 % increase in terms of yield as compared to the control (Table 6). Also by the use of the different planting density (153, 270 and 733 plants m− 2) at 20
in that case, the significantly lowest value of plant fresh weight was and 33 DAT. WUE has been calculated by using WUf according to formula 3.
obtained at the highest planting density (7.3 ± 0.3 g plant− 1). On both Data ± standard error (n = 15) are reported. Different letters indicate signifi­
cant differences according to the ANOVA test and the Tukey post-hoc test for
harvest days, the dry matter content was not affected by the adopted
mean separation with p < 0.05.
planting density (Table 6). At 20 DAT, WUE at the highest planting
density increased by 133 % as compared to the lowest one (Fig. 4),
reaching 68.3 ± 14.3 g FW L− 1 H2O. At 33 DAT, the highest WUE was increase in cultivation density decreases the need of humidification by
found at 270 and 733 plants m− 2, accounting for 135.0 ± 9.4 and 126 the system, since plants evapotranspiration affects the humidity level of
± 10.0 g FW L− 1 H2O, respectively, and resulting in an increase of the indoor environment. By increasing planting density there could be
+ 62–72 % as compared to the lowest planting density (Fig. 4). then the possibility to decrease the water input required for the hu­
The range of densities used in vertical farms is quite wide, with the midification, since as it is shown from our data, 32 % of the total water is
average density being around 140 plants m− 2 (Jin et al., 2022), similar used by the HVAC system (Table 4). On the other hand, considering that
to the one used as control in this study. The results of our study showed the rate of crop-induced heat gain and loss is not negligible (Talbot and
that using higher densities, especially in the early stages of growth, can Monfet, 2020), increasing the planting density could also affect the
lead to a significant increase in WUE (Fig. 4) without compromising dry cooling requirements of the HVAC system (Lalonde et al., 2019).
matter content (Table 6). Overall, what emerges from these scenarios, is that in terms of
Studies on lettuce growth model have reported that the optimal resource use efficiency, the next fundamental steps will require the study
planting density during the growth cycle is the one for which leaf area and characterization of cultivation techniques efficient in the trade-off
index remains constant, thus increasing the distance between plants as between water and energy consumption. In some crops such as green
they grown (Ioslovich and Gutman, 2000). While this strategy has been lettuce, multiple harvests allow the crops to achieve higher fresh and dry
analyzed with regard to light use efficiency (Nicole et al., 2016), the weight (Carillo et al., 2021; Thapa et al., 2022), therefore with the aim
results of this study showed that adapting the planting density through to identifying the optimal density that takes into account various aspects
the growth cycle can lead to a considerable increase in WUE, making the of cultivation, it will be crucial to study a possible interaction between
practice of dynamic planting density also efficient in terms of use of the use of high densities and multiple harvests, as well as the qualitative
resources other than land. Considering that the planting density in a parameters of crops in case of high planting densities.
vertical farm can be fully controlled, although the applicability of high
densities and dynamic densities depends largely on the level of auto­ 4. Conclusions
mation used, as suggested in van Delden et al. (2021), this cultivation
technique is also effective in terms of resource use efficiency. Moreover, In a vertical farm with artificial light, the adoption of high pressure
as reported by the simulation performed by Lalonde et al. (2019), the aeroponics and ebb-and-flow systems resulted in the same final lettuce
yield. However, the use of the aeroponic system resulted in an increase

Table 6
Yield (kg FW m− 2), plant fresh weight (g plant− 1) and dry matter content (%) for plants grown with the three planting densities, at 20 and
33 days after transplanting (DAT): 153, 270 and 733 plants m− 2. Data ± standard errors (n = 15) are reported. Different letters indicate
significant differences according to the ANOVA test and the Tukey post-hoc test for mean separation with p < 0.05.
DAT Planting density (plants m− 2) Yield Plant fresh weight Dry matter content
(kg m− 2) (g plant− 1) (%)

20 153 0.7 ± 0.05 b 4.8 ± 0.2 a 5.5 ± 0.1 a


270 1.3 ± 0.1 ab 4.7 ± 0.4 a 5.2 ± 0.1 a
733 1.7 ± 0.4 a 2.4 ± 0.5 b 5.6 ± 0.2 a
33 153 3.3 ± 0.3 b 21.3 ± 0.1 a 6.2 ± 0.8 a
270 6.3 ± 0.8 a 23.1 ± 2.1 a 5.9 ± 0.3 a
733 5.4 ± 0.7 a 7.3 ± 0.3 b 6.0 ± 0.4 a

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L. Carotti et al. Agricultural Water Management 285 (2023) 108365

of water use efficiency (WUE) by 53 %. WUE values increased signifi­ phytochemical constitution, plant resilience, and post-harvest nutraceutical quality.
Agronomy 11, 1040. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11061040.
cantly (+206 %) also thanks to the recovery of water transpired by
Chandra, S., Khan, S., Avula, B., Lata, H., Yang, M.H., ElSohly, M.A., Khan, I.A., 2014.
plants from the HVAC system, dramatically impacting the water Assessment of total phenolic and flavonoid content, antioxidant properties, and yield
requirement for irrigation. Applying specific cultivation techniques, of aeroponically and conventionally grown leafy vegetables and fruit crops: a
such as substituting from 30 to 50 μmol m− 2 s− 1 (15–25 % of the total comparative study. Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med. 2014, 1–9. https://doi.
org/10.1155/2014/253875.
radiation) of red and blue radiation with the same amount of far-red Clavijo-Herrera, J., van Santen, E., Gómez, C., 2018. Growth, water-use efficiency,
radiation, increased WUE by 46–64 %, without affecting the crop dry stomatal conductance, and nitrogen uptake of two lettuce cultivars grown under
matter content. Moreover, using different planting densities depending different percentages of blue and red light. Horticulturae 4, 16. https://doi.org/
10.3390/horticulturae4030016.
on the growth stage of the plants (≥ 270 plants m− 2), allowed to greatly van Delden, S.H., SharathKumar, M., Butturini, M., Graamans, L.J.A., Heuvelink, E.,
increase WUE ranging 62–133 %. The results of this study therefore Kacira, M., Kaiser, E., Klamer, R.S., Klerkx, L., Kootstra, G., Loeber, A., Schouten, R.
showed how the use of innovative technologies and specific cultivation E., Stanghellini, C., van Ieperen, W., Verdonk, J.C., Vialet-Chabrand, S.,
Woltering, E.J., van de Zedde, R., Zhang, Y., Marcelis, L.F.M., 2021. Current status
techniques, e.g., the optimal management of far-red radiation and and future challenges in implementing and upscaling vertical farming systems. Nat.
planting density, can contribute greatly to optimizing water use in an Food 2, 944–956. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00402-w.
indoor growing system. In order to further optimize water use in a Demotes-Mainard, S., Péron, T., Corot, A., Bertheloot, J., Le Gourrierec, J., Pelleschi-
Travier, S., Crespel, L., Morel, P., Huché-Thélier, L., Boumaza, R., Vian, A.,
vertical farm, future studies should deeply characterize the consumption Guérin, V., Leduc, N., Sakr, S., 2016. Plant responses to red and far-red lights,
of the HVAC system when different cultivation strategies are adopted, applications in horticulture. Environ. Exp. Bot. 121, 4–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/
taking into account the contribution in terms of both energy and water j.envexpbot.2015.05.010.
Du, M., Xiao, Z., Luo, Y., 2022. Advances and emerging trends in cultivation substrates
consumption, to improve the trade-off between different resources.
for growing sprouts and microgreens toward safe and sustainable agriculture. Curr.
Opin. Food Sci. 46, 100863 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2022.100863.
Funding Eldridge, B.M., Manzoni, L.R., Graham, C.A., Rodgers, B., Farmer, J.R., Dodd, A.N., 2020.
Getting to the roots of aeroponic indoor farming. N. Phytol. 228, 1183–1192.
https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16780.
This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 FAO, 2014. The water-energy-food nexus. A New Approach in Support of Food Security
Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No. and Sustainable Agriculture. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United
Nations, Rome, Italy. 〈https://www.fao.org/3/bl496e/bl496e.pdf〉.
862663, by the Italian Ministry of Education and Research (MUR), Graamans, L., Baeza, E., van den Dobbelsteen, A., Tsafaras, I., Stanghellini, C., 2018.
within the call for Research Projects of National Interest (PRIN), within Plant factories versus greenhouses: comparison of resource use efficiency. Agric.
the project “VFARM - Sustainable Vertical Farming” (Project code: Syst. 160, 31–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2017.11.003.
Gruda, N.S., 2020. Soilless culture systems and growing media in horticulture: an
2020ELWM82, CUP: J33C20002350001), and by the Swedish Research
overview. Advances in horticultural soilless culture. Burleigh Dodds Science
Council for Sustainable Development FORMAS (Grant Number: 2021- Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003048206.
02447) and the Swedish Innovation Agency VINNOVA, (Grant Number: He, J., Qin, L., Lee, S.K., 2013. Root-zone CO2 and root-zone temperature effects on
photosynthesis and nitrogen metabolism of aeroponically grown lettuce (Lactuca
2019-03178).
sativa L.) in the tropics. Photosynt 51, 330–340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-
013-0030-5.
Incrocci, L., Thompson, R.B., Fernandez-Fernandez, M.D., De Pascale, S., Pardossi, A.,
Declaration of Competing Interest Stanghellini, C., Rouphael, Y., Gallardo, M., 2020. Irrigation management of
European greenhouse vegetable crops. Agric. Water Manag. 242, 106393 https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106393.
The authors declare the following financial interests/personal re­ Ioslovich, I., Gutman, P.O., 2000. Optimal control of crop spacing in a plant factory.
lationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Automatica 36, 1665–1668.
Francesco Orsini reports financial support was provided by European Jin, W., Urbina, J.L., Heuvelink, E., Marcelis, L.F.M., 2021. Adding far-red to red-blue
light-emitting diode light promotes yield of lettuce at different planting densities.
Union. Francesco Orsini reports financial support was provided by Front. Plant Sci. 11, 609977 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.609977.
Government of Italy Ministry of Education University and Research. Jin, W., Formiga Lopez, D., Heuvelink, E., Marcelis, L.F.M., 2022. Light use efficiency of
Michael Martin reports financial support was provided by Swedish lettuce cultivation in vertical farms compared with greenhouse and field. Food
Energy Secur. 12, e39 https://doi.org/10.1002/fes3.391.
Research Council Formas. Michael Martin reports financial support was Jurga, A., Pacak, A., Pandelidis, D., Kaźmierczak, B., 2023. Condensate as a water source
provided by Sweden’s Innovation Agency. Davide Meneghello reports a in terrestrial and extra-terrestrial conditions. Water Resour. Ind. 29, 100196 https://
relationship with FRM srl that includes: employment. doi.org/10.1016/j.wri.2022.100196.
Kalaitzoglou, P., van Ieperen, W., Harbinson, J., van der Meer, M., Martinakos, S.,
Weerheim, K., Nicole, C.C.S., Marcelis, L.F.M., 2019. Effects of continuous or end-of-
Data Availability day far-red light on tomato plant growth, morphology, light absorption, and fruit
production. Front. Plant Sci. 10, 322. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2019.00322.
Data will be made available on request. Kalantari, F., Tahir, O.M., Joni, R.A., Fatemi, E., 2018. Opportunities and challenges in
sustainability of vertical farming: a review. J. Landsc. Ecol. 11, 35–60. https://doi.
org/10.1515/jlecol-2017-0016.
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