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Design and development of laboratory scale hydroponic system for growing sweet basil using plasma activated nutrient solution

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Title
Design and development of laboratory scale hydroponic system for growing sweet basil using plasma activated nutrient solution
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Date
NamePart (type = given)
Manasi Bhalchandra
NamePart (type = date)
1991-
DisplayForm
Manasi Bhalchandra Date
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
author
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Karwe
NamePart (type = given)
Mukund V
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Mukund V Karwe
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
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chair
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Schaffner
NamePart (type = given)
Donald W
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Donald W Schaffner
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Advisory Committee
Role
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internal member
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Simon
NamePart (type = given)
James E
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James E Simon
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
internal member
Name (type = corporate)
NamePart
Rutgers University
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
degree grantor
Name (type = corporate)
NamePart
School of Graduate Studies
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
school
TypeOfResource
Text
Genre (authority = marcgt)
theses
OriginInfo
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2020
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2020-05
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2020
Language
LanguageTerm (authority = ISO 639-3:2007); (type = text)
English
Abstract (type = abstract)
Food security for future generations has become a critical issue for a variety of reasons such as population explosion, climate change, and less land for crop cultivation. Alternative growing techniques such as hydroponics which do not involve the use of soil for crop production can be used on commercial level to alleviate the food security problem. In our research, sweet basil was grown using plasma activated nutrient solution (PANS) in a closed hydroponic system. The PANS offers number of benefits over nutrient solution (NS) for basil growth due to the presence of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. PANS was prepared using a gliding arc plasmatron system developed by Drexel University and was characterized by measuring its pH, EC (electrical conductivity), ORP (oxidation-reduction potential), and reactive species concentrations.

To assess the effect of PANS on sweet basil plant growth and quality, basil seedlings were grown using Rutgers Devotion DMR cultivar seeds in a growth chamber for 14 days (25 °C, 75 % relative humidity, and 100 µmol/m2s light intensity). These seedlings were then transferred to custom-built NS and PANS chambers for 20 days growth period. The two chambers were identical and were assembled in the pilot plant of Rutgers Food Science building. The plants received fixed amount of light (250 µmol/m2s) for 16 h each day and they were watered 8 times a day for 8 mins at a time, throughout the harvest period. The temperature, the relative humidity, the CO2 level inside the two chambers, and the temperatures of NS and PANS were monitored every 1 h. To evaluate the effect of PANS, two treatment variations were done while growing the basil plants in the two chambers. In Treatment 1, the NS and PANS solutions that were prepared on day 1 of the harvest period were used throughout the 21-day growth period to water the basil plants whereas in Treatment 2, fresh NS and PANS solutions were used to water the plants for week 1, week 2, and week 3. For both the treatments, the basil plants were harvested on the 21st day and their growth parameters such as plant height, number of branches, number of nodes, root length, leaf index, mass yield, and quality parameters such as leaf color, texture, microbial quality, aroma profile, and tissue nutrient content were evaluated. The growth of algae in the solutions was also estimated at the end of every week.

Results showed that basil grown in PANS had higher growth and some improved quality parameters compared to basil grown using NS. PANS Treatment 1 (PANST1) had the most significant effect on the basil plants with increased height (11 %), more number of branches and nodes, and higher mass yield (35 %). PANS Treatment 2 (PANST2) resulted in basil leaves which had higher green (a*) value and higher leaf index. Peak rupture force, leaf toughness, and Young’s modulus values for basil leaves were not significantly different between PANST1, PANST2, and control. Aroma analysis of the basil leaves showed that PANST1 resulted in an increased formation of methyl eugenol and eugenol, possibly indicating a spicier aroma from the leaves. Significant algae reduction (41 % and 45 %, respectively) was observed in PANST1 and PANST2 after first 2 weeks. However, at the end of week 3 only PANST2 showed significant algae reduction (45 %). In terms of microbial quality, it was found that both PANST1 and PANST2 treatments did not show any significant difference in total plate count of the basil leaves, when compared to control. The results from the tissue analysis indicated no difference in the tissue nutrient profile for both the treatments when compared to control. Energy wise, the growth of basil by control treatment required 73.9 kWh total energy, whereas PANST1 treatment required 74.9 kWh and PANST2 treatment required 76.9 kWh.

This study showed that growing Rutgers Devotion DMR sweet basil using PANS resulted in higher (11 %) growth, higher yield (35 %), darker green color, and an altered aroma profile in the basil leaves. Growing sweet basil under PANST1 was better for plant height, number of branches, number of nodes, basil yield, and aroma profile. Use of PANST2 was better for greener leaf color, higher leaf index, and more algae removal. Thus, use of PANS appears to show a promise for growing basil hydroponically. Further research is needed for scaled-up operations at a greenhouse scale.
Subject (authority = LCSH)
Topic
Basil
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Food Science
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_10836
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application/pdf
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text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (xxiii, 257 pages) : illustrations
Note (type = degree)
M.S.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
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School of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = local)
rucore10001600001
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NjNbRU
Identifier (type = doi)
doi:10.7282/t3-mstw-c625
Genre (authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD graduate
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The author owns the copyright to this work.
RightsHolder (type = personal)
Name
FamilyName
date
GivenName
manasi
Role
Copyright Holder
RightsEvent
Type
Permission or license
DateTime (encoding = w3cdtf); (qualifier = exact); (point = start)
2020-04-26 19:23:56
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Name
manasi date
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Affiliation
Rutgers University. School of Graduate Studies
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I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
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2020-05-31
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2021-05-31
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Access to this PDF has been restricted at the author's request. It will be publicly available after May 31st, 2021.
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Copyright protected
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2020-04-26T16:21:42
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