Reducing extreme weather impacts in greenhouses: the effect of a new passive climate control system on nutritional quality of pepper fruits.

Abstract

BACKGROUND\nEnvironmental conditions affect the quality of the fruits and their organoleptic properties. In low-tech greenhouses, these environmental conditions are frequently not optimal for crops. Therefore, the present work shows the effects of the use of an integrated passive heating and cooling system in a greenhouse located in the Mediterranean area on the quality of pepper fruits.\n\n\nRESULTS\nThe results indicate that the passive system utilized improved many parameters, such as the average weight of fruits, °Brix, glucose and fructose content, P and K content, increased the values of b* and hab *, and reduced the total phenolic compounds, total amino acids content, and Fe and Zn content. However, the degree of the effect of the climatic factors on these parameters was also affected by harvest time.\n\n\nCONCLUSION\nThis novel study highlights the possibility of improving the nutritional quality of pepper fruits by modifying the environmental conditions through the use of passive heating and cooling systems whilst reducing the carbon footprint. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.