In the first week of September, Her Majesty Queen Máxima visited a demo of LED-lighted tomatoes. The royal visit marked the occasion of the opening of the new education building Orion at Wageningen University.
In the demo, tomato plants were lit by red and blue LED tubes. These LED tubes are specially developed for the study in order to direct the amount of light received by the tomatoes, and therefore the nutritional values. By lighting the crops during the cultivation, the vitamin C content of the tomatoes will be doubled, at least according to research by Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture in collaboration with Philips.
Pictures courtesy of Guy Ackermans
Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture is conducting the research in the framework of the project "Health from the Greenhouse", financed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. In a follow-up study, the nutritional value and taste of fruits and vegetables might be further improved.