Evaluation of Growth, Flowering, and Chlorophyll Fluorescence Responses of Viola cornuta cv. Penny Red Wing according to Spectral Power Distributions

Abstract

Background and objective: The genus Viola, a member of the Violaceae family, is renowned for its ornamental flower crops. Additionally, Viola species are relatively pest-resistant and easy to manage. They are widely used in gardens, and some of their flowers are even edible. In this study, our focus was on V. cornuta cv. Penny Red Wing (hereinafter referred to as ‘Penny Red Wing’), an experimental plant chosen for its high ornamental value and rapid growth.Methods: We applied a purple light-emitting diode (LED) and three types of white LEDs with varying color temperatures: 3000, 4100, and 6500 K, respectively, as artificial light sources. Notably, a purple LED has a far-red wavelength (700-800 nm) ratio of approximately 17.6% in their spectral power distribution.Results: The findings indicated that several parameters exhibited higher values under purple LED: shoot size parameters, shoot biomass, moisture content of shoots and roots, photochemical reflectance index (PRI), modified chlorophyll absorption ratio index (MCARI), total number of flowers, flower size parameters, scent score, F_v/F_m, and PI_ABS. However, the 6500 K white LED led to higher evaluations of root length, number of shoots and leaves, root biomass, moisture content of shoots and roots, F_v/F_m, and PI_ABS. Nevertheless, it was observed that shoot growth was relatively hindered, and the flowering responses were inadequate under the 6500 K white LED, suggesting their unsuitability for the mass production of ‘Penny Red Wing’. Furthermore, the 3000 and 4100 K white LEDs were also deemed unsuitable for cultivating ‘Penny Red Wing’ due to their lower cultivation efficiency.Conclusion: ‘Penny Red Wing’ was evaluated as having superior growth, flowering, and chlorophyll fluorescence responses under purple LED, indicating that the far-red wavelength had a more pronounced effect compared to the green wavelength (500-600 nm). Therefore, we recommend cultivating this cultivar under purple LED, which include the far-red wavelength.