Why people love wasabi

Wasabi has enormous health benefits. It’s good for your heart, and for your liver, it even helps regenerate your hair. Of course, taste and uniqueness come into play as the food service industry’s poster boy for Sushi and Sashimi. Back in the EDO period, Shoguns were scrapping over this beloved Japanese herb. Why? They discovered it prevented food poisoning after they ate raw fish. 

Can it grow outside of Japan? 

Yes that’s right, it can grow outside its homeland of Japan and many of our friends are successful farmers. The horticulture world has been distracted by the perception it could be tricky to grow. But some hydroponic growers are proving it is possible to be commercially successful. Knowledge and experience is the key to the success of this tricky crop that needs a unique controlled environment, whether you grow hydroponically, in soil pots/beds or naturally in streams. But once you upskill, you can grow for both pleasure (it’s a stunning plant in full bloom below, and the smell well that’s indescribable) and local food service. 

Is it economical to grow Wasabi? 

Wasabi may well be a high value crop (up to $250 per kg of rhizome) but long production cycles, circa 2–3 years, make this a niche specialist crop best designated for high-end restaurants. Most growers will supplement yields by selling Japanese accessories or young plants to cover periods between harvests. So you may want to put your marketing hat on and diversify into Japanese culture and food service. 

All that’s left to say is – do you want to start growing? We are here to help. 

Nice cool temps year round, neutral pH, and a high humidity will get you going.

Janet Colston PhD is pharmacologist with an interest in growing ‘functional’ foods that have additional phytonutrients and display medicinal qualities that are beneficial to human health. She grows these using a range of techniques including plant tissue micropropagation and controlled environmental agriculture to ensure the highest quality control.

We need farming, but what kind of farming do we need?

Everywhere you look, farmers, environmentalists, activists, businesses, celebrities, and politicians are talking about climate change, polarizing the subject and postulating what will happen if we don’t take action now. We know the way we are currently farming is harming the planet and our health, but we also know as farmers we have the skills to change the outcome. Some of the problems in agriculture are compounded by long food supply chains, intensive farming and over processing of foods. It remains challenging, in part due to the complexity of the global system we have built. We acknowledge we cannot resolve these issues individually, and campaigners all agree we need to work together to build resilience in the whole food system. 

Urban Ag News created a world graphic to demonstrate the wide range of symbiotic interactions needed to work together for long term food security. 

What role should the CEA industry play in sustaining the food chain?

The founding principles of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) should be to grow food by integrating technology with natural resources in environments close to the consumer, giving better access to healthy, pesticide free foods in a more sustainable way. Importantly, we want to explain how the right technology used in the right situation can help our farmers play their part.

There have been many discussions asking who should lead in CEA. We want to take a more holistic viewpoint, and want to know what role, if any, the CEA industry will play in the security and sustainability of our food systems. Sustainability in CEA has been defined in different ways, but essentially we want to understand how the following co-exist and their interdependency: 

• Profitability
• Technology
• Locality
• Diversity 
• Accessibility 

Farmers have the knowledge and the tools to produce food anywhere, but the real question is: should consumers continue to demand convenience in the food chain at the cost of environmental sustainability?

Our food systems are driven in part to meet consumer demand for convenience. People have come to believe their food should be accessible all year round. We no longer have seasons, and retailers comply by importing to keep shelves stocked. But, anytime crops are grown out of season, or in non-native regions of the world, production becomes heavily reliant on additional energy and distribution networks. Not only is this bad for the planet, it pushes up costs for producers, which is passed on to consumers. It’s a no-win scenario as farmers struggle to maintain economic viability, while transitioning to greener technologies. 

If farming in hyper local food systems needs to be economically viable, how can it be sustainable with all the variables?

“A company that stays in business is economically sustainable, but this doesn’t always mean it’s environmentally sustainable.” Bruce Bugbee, Professor of crop physiology at Utah State University.

On the face of it, the answer seems simple for us in CEA, in that we could provide more local sustainable food production using clean energy, close to where people live. Getting over the startup capital costs of building a farm and access to urban land is a hurdle. Regardless, it would take a huge number of smaller farms to build a better food supply chain, reducing food miles and eliminating food deserts around our inner cities. Cutting air miles is only one part of the solution, we also need to understand the type of technology deployed, and the clean energy inputs required that help us build a more sustainable approach. 

“We need, among others, small local producers, ideally using new forms of high-yielding agroecology.” George Monbiot, British journalist, author, and environmental and political activist.

What difference can CEA make to the planet? 

By its very nature, CEA is a competitively expanding field with progressive and environmentally friendly technologies that allow us to protect the crops we grow and mass produce food on a scale capable of feeding populations at risk from climate change. We believe the industry should drive down energy consumption, eliminate pesticides and reduce agricultural run-off. It’s a little too early to celebrate these accomplishments, we need to do more work before we pat each other on the back.

Integrating innovative and time saving technology in existing farms will make them more efficient, and is an interim way to restore local supply chains. Creating skilled farming jobs, and bringing people closer to the food supply chain, is critical to success. We have discussed some of the issues with labor in the CEA industry in previous articles. 

Less obvious are the advances in crop breeding that increase the range of crops that can be adapted to grow in CEA. We can keep developing suitable crops, but the area of highest impact is undoubtedly changing consumer behavior, and for that to be successful we need increased consumer knowledge. This includes understanding the value of local fresh produce that does not travel across the world to reach our supermarket shelves. Paying for higher quality is a more sustainable approach in the long term. We know this is a complex subject and that not all consumers can afford to pay higher costs. 

“Consumers who prioritize locally grown, and seasonal produce are often willing and able to pay a premium for products.” Urban Ag News 

How do we measure sustainable agriculture?

Fossil fuel energy costs have hindered the CEA industry in the past, but new farms will undoubtedly attempt newer hydrogen technologies, or we may see hybrid farms, mixed with solar, wind or thermal renewable energy. We are already seeing this trend. 

Moving to new clean energy sources is going to be capital and potentially carbon heavy in the short to medium term. Striving to make CEA farms profitable using renewable energy is in the short term more costly to the environment. Do we have the time and enough data to mobilize green energy for food systems? For investors in CEA, there should be modeling from prospective businesses demonstrating quantitative metrics of inputs, and emissions from food grown with the use of fossil fuels and renewables. But who will invest in sustainability of the global food system, and should it be governments concerned with social good and the environment rather than wealthy business owners?

“The transition to clean CEA farms should use tech that harnesses both natural resources of the region and availability of labor to produce crops with the lowest energy inputs.” Chris Higgins, President and general manager of Hort Americas.

Extreme weather, either too hot, too cold or too wet, will make current crops and locations unpredictable. The use of renewable energy sources either to heat or cool these crops must not exacerbate the problem. In the long term, conversion to clean energy sources will lead to more sustainable CEA food production in regions that become inhospitable to certain crops and require either cooling or heating to maintain suitable temperatures. Rebates on high energy costs will encourage farmers to take advantage of green schemes, and more engineers will enter this field in the future to help us achieve additional energy efficiencies. All farmers will need access to land to build resilient infrastructure.

Why LED lighting is better for energy consumption and is the most efficient way to supplement sunlight for photosynthesis 

Lighting is a key topic in this industry, and LEDs are well proven to increase yields and reduce crop disease. A first of its kind comparative study by Wageningen University showed an energy saving of 40%  when switching to LED lights versus conventional agricultural lighting.  The switch reduces heat radiating from traditional lamps by 25% which gives enormous flexibility to transition to clean renewable energy heat resources. 

LEDs also provide an opportunity to increase yields and crop efficiency using advanced spectral recipes, extended photoperiods and variable light intensities as the crop demands. This provides the grower with more control and flexibility to determine the light level separately from heat generation in greenhouses. Innovation will make it possible to build in flexible LED lighting that adjusts automatically in response to plant physiology, optimizing plant photosynthetic capacity. Fine-tuning of LEDs will make crops more efficient and together with genetic breeding will yield higher biomass using highly effective and sustainable growing methods. 

Eliminating agricultural run-off by integrating a closed nutrient feed system in a greenhouse or open field 

As CEA farmers, we do not propose to solve all the issues created by climate change, but one we can have an immediate effect on is nutrient run-off into groundwater. Water is a commodity we need to use sparsely in agriculture and run off is tightly controlled in high-tech environments, recirculating through filters and running operations with only minimal top up for small production sites. Innovative technologies like nanobubbles extend the lifespan of nutrient solutions, and careful automated monitoring ensures the plants get all uptake of nutrients at the right time with accuracy and efficiency.

Monocrop farming is not only killing the planet through deforestation, it is also impacting our health.

Farming crops like wheat, rice, soy and palm oil is impacting our environment and damaging core systems, leading to further downstream effects. It’s a complex picture as monocrops themselves do not create a poor diet. Instead, poor health is more likely to be linked to consumer behavior and a lack of knowledge of how some processed foods in the diet can be damaging. We appreciate the choice of an individual to be healthy is not the responsibility of farmers, but we should all promote diverse fruits and vegetables to sustain healthy lives.

Crops suitable and adapted to CEA have until now been limited, and we want to avoid CEA itself becoming a ‘monocrop’ industry. The issues here are conflicting, as monocrops have saved millions from starving, but the cost to the planet has been high and is unsustainable. Diversifying what we grow is significantly better for human health, biodiversity, and long term food security. 

We are making huge strides with access to clean stock, producing diverse crops that are adaptable to CEA systems. It will help the planet by providing the consumer demand for certain foods in a way that avoids air miles and excessively destructive land-use change.

Crop diversity is a bottleneck in CEA as we figure out the most profitable markets to offset the higher energy inputs in the short term. Most growers are established experts in the leafy green space, but it takes skill and innovation to make other crops such as dragon fruit and saffron economical. We will get there. Science based, profitable opportunities are presented by CRISPR  gene editing to create new crops or varieties to circumvent rising temperatures, taking advantage of extended growing seasons. 

“What’s a gene worth? If it unlocks a crop trait that helps farmers grow enough while conserving our planet’s natural resources, then… everything.” Bayer US.

Some of our most well known superfoods, turmeric, ginger, and strawberries thrive in hotter climates, while cooler temps favor lesser known medicinal crops like wasabi and ginseng. These all grow in climates we are able to simulate indoors or in quasi greenhouse hydroponics systems. Just how a grower chooses to adapt their growing methods should not be restrictive, but technology can be ancillary to their needs. There are further opportunities for development of new medicines and protein sources from plants grown in CEA,  which will give access to more people in the world. 

Why is this important? 

Our consumerism is not only destroying the planet, but destroying our health. The two are inextricably linked. While farmers are developing innovative solutions that promote sustainable agriculture, we believe the added burden of health should not lie solely with them. 

We have a window of opportunity to make the food chain more sustainable and at the same time improve global health through what people eat.

We are all in danger of acute disease from not only future pandemics but also from sedentary consumer diseases like diabetes and heart disease. Not only that, but we consume too much of the wrong stuff because it is marketed to us in irresistible ways. How many of us consider the planet when we are filling our shopping baskets with processed foods?

Eating better is one of the simplest answers, yet we are defined as a generation that has still to behave in a way that allows us to have healthy lives. Part of this is down to access to healthy foods, as we know the problem is exacerbated in deprived inner city communities. It is also about the cost for an individual, when it could be cheaper to buy processed foods, yet we pay a heavy price for healthcare to resolve lifestyle diseases down the road. The answer is to educate communities with simple messaging, and data driven science to bring people closer to their food chain, and help them make more ethical decisions about their space on the planet.

Who will lead the CEA industry?

As a populist driven society, we rely on influential people to drive home the message. 

Some people, like Stephen Ritz, are leading the way in CEA, raising awareness in their community with particular emphasis on children’s education. We need others to step up and encourage the next generation. 

Ultimately it’s not about us, it’s about our children, who will bear the burden of feeding the world.

“We must shift our emphasis from economic efficiency to life efficiency.” Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Finally, we return to what Chris discussed in his article and who should lead this movement as we try to understand how we come together to resolve our sustainability issues in farming. We cannot claim to resolve the world’s food problems with CEA alone, but we can keep innovating, keep talking to farmers, and advising on the right tech for the right situation. 

“You just need to know how to properly use the appropriate technology that allows each farm to scale correctly by understanding the relationships between yield and capex, and opex per square foot, meter, acre or hectare.” Chris Higgins 

If you need some ideas, try our functional food blogs. Feel free to reprint this article as long as you give credit to the authors and Urban Ag News. 

Can you believe this white ‘pom pom’ like fungus has properties that regrow nerves? This has been proven in several peer reviewed studies. Remarkably, this mushroom can grow larger than a baseball in under two months given the right controlled environment. 

Substrates for Lion’s mane are commonly straw or sawdust based, but could just as easily be ground spent coffee beans. Setting up a container sized space, the main controls to be aware of for optimal growth are temperature and humidity. 

Lion’s Mane mushrooms are rich in protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. They are particularly prized for their potential health benefits, including boosting cognitive function, supporting the nervous system, and enhancing immune function.

As the mane grows, it will start to form an underlying ball shape. Then out of nowhere comes the shaggy mane. 

Lion’s Mane mushrooms contain bioactive compounds such as hericenones and erinacines, which have been studied for their neuroprotective and neuroregenerative effects. Research suggests that Lion’s Mane may help improve memory, concentration, and overall brain health.

Shedding of spores – these can be collected for subsequent inoculation of spawn. 

How do you eat these mushrooms? 

Lion’s Mane mushrooms have a delicate, seafood-like flavor and a meaty texture, making them a popular choice for vegetarian or vegan dishes. They can be sautéed, grilled, or roasted and used in various recipes, including stir-fries, soups, and pasta dishes.

Why not try out Nashville Farmacy’s recipe for lion’s mane ragù, it sounds really tasty. 

They are best harvested when young and tender, before the spines become too dense or discolored.

Janet Colston PhD is pharmacologist with an interest in growing ‘functional’ foods that have additional phytonutrients and display medicinal qualities that are beneficial to human health. She grows these using a range of techniques including plant tissue micropropagation and controlled environmental agriculture to ensure the highest quality control.

My forefathers were crofters living off the land in whatever way they could in the Hebridean islands off the north-west coast of Scotland. In the Western Isles the land mass is harsh, with rocky terrain, few trees for cover and battered by Atlantic swells. Crofters like my grandfather reared sheep, and the land was cultivated for hard crops like potatoes and turnips.

My summer holidays on my grandfather’s family croft on the Isle of Harris. Imagine trying to cultivate this land? The terrain, as you can see, was like the rocky side of the moon.

I often wonder what my grandfather would make of my way to grow food in my cloning rooms and hydroponic greenhouse. I’m not sure if he would understand, but if he tasted the food I guess he would believe it. Ironically, the inhospitable terrain of the Hebrides would be the ideal place to site a vertical farm, securing food production on the islands. 

Like my grandfather, I have tried to inspire my children with my passion for growing my own food using CEA. My sons have all grown up knowing about hydroponics. Perhaps it will be years before they acknowledge the ideas, but at least they have a grounding in the basics. We must move with the times if we want the future farmers to have the skills to feed themselves and others. They need inspirational leaders to follow, or perhaps just a mom.

Is farming in your DNA? Why don’t you share your story of family farming with us and how you are inspiring the next generation?

Janet Colston PhD is pharmacologist with an interest in growing ‘functional’ foods that have additional phytonutrients and display medicinal qualities that are beneficial to human health. She grows these using a range of techniques including plant tissue micropropagation and controlled environmental agriculture to ensure the highest quality control.

Whatever way you eat them, the anthocyanins in the dark skins play a vital role in reducing many lifestyle diseases, and consuming just one cup of blueberries a day will cut your chance of a heart attack or stroke. 

Supersized blueberries could be good for CEA growers 

Breeding is a big deal for not only blueberries but the entire soft fruit industry. New varieties can help urban and controlled environment agriculturists find competitive advantages. Legislation and logistics will change the way we grow, helping to sustain an increased demand for strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. We already know they like an early start in CEA, facilitating easier acclimation to winter conditions. We also know that light quality and intensity in blueberry production is crucial to fruiting and continuous production of high yields. 

When is a blueberry not a blueberry?

Figuring out the right varieties for the right geography is important. They can be relatively hardy bushes and generally take well to a Scottish summer. More varieties than ever are available as breeders search for darker skins, higher yields, and plump berries, with just the right amount of bite. 

Honeyberry, Lonicera caerulea, or Haskaps, as they are commonly known, are native to Japan, and the berries are like little blueberry parcels. What many don’t know is that they are not actually blueberries at all, but come from the honeysuckle family. Despite this difference, they are pretty similar bushes, except for the elongated fruits.  

We’ve been trialing honeyberries through cold Scottish winters, and our young tissue cultured propagules grew a decent couple of feet with good node spacing indoors in 2–3 months under LED lights. 

The berries we produced are small, but incremental improvements will continue until good yields are obtained. With four times the level of antioxidants compared to blueberries and great cold-hardiness, honeyberries we think are worthy of time and investment in CEA.

We can’t wait for berry season, can you?

Janet Colston is a Scottish micropropagation consultant passionate about hydroponics, controlled environment agriculture and functional food.

Myoga contains the terpene alpha-pinene, known to be neuroprotective. The buds are high in anthocyanins and can prevent lifestyle diseases. The taste is less pungent than western ginger, so eating raw flower buds (the only edible part of myoga) in salads or as pickles are the best way to gain these health benefits. 

Growing Myoga in hydroponics or soil 

Myoga ginger, grown in soil (left) and aeroponics (right). We think soil grown is better for this plant, but it is worth experimenting with different substrates and hydroponic techniques. LEDs will encourage growth and flowering either way. 

There are many other varieties of ginger, but one that pops up a lot in videos is shampoo ginger (Zingiber zerumbet (L.)). It has properties that are good for hair conditioning, and often you will see people running their hands through the flower fronds to release the trapped liquid within to wash their hair. 

Zingiber zerumbet (L.) otherwise known as Shampoo Ginger

In the wild, ginger can grow up to five feet in hot humid locations and proliferate with ease, coming up annually to produce new rhizomes. In cooler climates, we only see these plants in municipal hothouses.

Hedychium Gardnerianum ‘Kahili’ Ginger native to India was spotted in the Botanics, Glasgow. 

Part of the landscape, wild ginger, was found on a hike in Hawaii, courtesy of Chris Higgins and his wife. 

Janet Colston PhD is pharmacologist with an interest in growing ‘functional’ foods that have additional phytonutrients and display medicinal qualities that are beneficial to human health. She grows these using a range of techniques including plant tissue micropropagation and controlled environmental agriculture to ensure the highest quality control.

No one disputes that tomatoes are good for heart health, especially if you follow the Mediterranean diet. This is in part due to the bioactive carotenoid Lycopene found in tomatoes (molecular structure featured), which is known to improve health.

The ‘crunch’ question: is extracting Lycopene as a drug more beneficial to our health than if we eat tomatoes as part of a healthy diet? The answer?  It’s all to do with health status, efficacy and balance.

Why bioactives could be a good investment 

Bioactives have already caught the attention of investors, eager to tap into start-up companies with million-dollar investments which could  elevate them from their niche status to fill emerging gaps in healthcare, and in the process help CEA farmers gain from a move to: 

• grow the best quality functional plants in a controlled environment.
• recreate environmental growing conditions in any geographical location.
• breed new genetics leading to nutraceuticals stable enough to improve human health. 
• increase the level/production of selective bioactive metabolites. 
• widen the market opportunities to sell more diverse fresh fruit and vegetables using CEA.

The evolving challenge of drug resistance, and the need for novel drugs to treat diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s has led to an increased demand for new bioactives worldwide. Even before the pandemic struck, healthy foods and supplements fortified with plant extracts were on trend. A report in January of this year also indicates the health and wellness sector is gathering momentum, with the global market for bioactive ingredients expected to reach 317 billion USD by 2030. More than a quarter of this market will come from functional plants.

Can CEA play a role in amplifying bioactives in functional  plants?

CEA could accelerate the early stages of drug discovery, harnessing the power of controlled environments to deliberately stress/elicit plant responses to produce higher yields of bioactive molecules. Plant bioactives provide a natural protective role against biotic and abiotic stress. Plants that are free from disease can easily be studied in a controlled environment, preparing them for either uniform extraction or controlled genetics: the protected environment easily permits monitoring and maintenance without introducing any unwanted genetic variation. By transitioning plants towards ‘survival mode’ it pushes the equilibrium in favor of more efficacious specialized bioactives. 

We have observed this with increased light intensity in our Wasabi trials, forcing a stress response, which subsequently increases anthocyanin levels. The wide range of bioactives in Wasabi can be found in our exclusive article. 

CEA can be used by Agritech farmers to increase high quality bioactive molecules that can be marketed both as part of a healthy diet and opportunistically for novel drug extraction with potential to treat disease. 

Bioactive exploration is complex but it does not mean farmers can’t grasp the methodologies and their importance 

Metabolic pathways are complex: they produce multiple modified bioactive intermediates which make them difficult to define. Finding new ways to identify important bioactive compounds requires an inter-disciplinary approach. Metabolomics and computer-aided drug design (CADD) have emerged as the strongest fields in plant drug discovery which accelerates the selection of efficacious molecules compared to traditional pharmacological techniques. This advance is attributed to new technologies making it possible to study the plant metabolome using advanced technologies to screen and analyze the effects of bioactive molecules faster than ever before.

Let’s take a quick run through some of the production methods used to scale up important bioactives

• Precision fermentation using microbes has been popular in recent years but has for decades been used to scale up bioactives. Genetically engineered yeasts, algae and bacteria have all been used to cultivate bioactives. 

• Protoplast culture is another efficient method where the outer protective plant cell wall is enzymatically removed and the cells become ‘totipotent’ with the ability to differentiate into any cell type. These uniform cellular suspensions can then be used to manufacture high-value specialized metabolites. 

• Hairy root culture has also been used as a scaling method for many years to allow bioactives found specifically in plant roots to be extracted. Thanks to our friend in Indonesia,  Dannis Kusuma we can share his adventitial culture of Gynura procumbans (sometimes called longevity spinach for its extensive health properties) in bespoke bubble reactors used to extract specialized metabolites from the roots. Click the image to see more.

• Molecular farming uses novel DNA inserted into an Agrobacterium which is then mechanically loaded into the plant, using a syringe on the leaf underside. Nicotiana benthamina, a close relative of  Tobacco, is often used as the vector due to its fast-growing nature and ability to be genetically transformed with good efficiency. This drives the plant to express desired bioactives in plant ‘biofactories’ including antibodies, hormones and vaccines. 

New bioactives are processed downstream; whether they are produced in microbes, protoplasts or are agrobacterium-mediated, production will follow relatively similar methodologies. Regardless of the intermediate, extraction and purification are likely to follow a similar enrichment pathway.

Vanilla – CEA innovators are growing this valuable crop but it could also help identify novel bioactives 

The subtropical ingredient we all love to flavor our ice cream, Vanilla, comes from the Orchid family; Vanilla Planifolia (commonly known as Bourbon Vanilla), is a native of Mexico that requires a high-humidity environment to grow successfully. 

What bioactives are present in Vanilla?

Vanillin, a phenolic aldehyde, is one of the main bioactives derived from vanilla and is the second most used natural flavor in the world. It demonstrates diverse bioactivity, including anticancer, neuroprotective, and antibiotic properties. Currently, 95% of vanillin is produced by chemical synthesis of lignin and guaiacol. Manufacturing vanillin using petrochemicals or by precision fermentation, either microbial or yeast based, has many limitations, not least that such methods cannot recreate that wonderful vanilla flavor you get from natural seed pods in what is a complex process with high energy consumption. This has led to renewed interest in low cost bio-based alternatives. 

But one of the problems in scaling up natural vanillin is that production is a long way from its market. Of the locations around the world suitable for growing the orchid, Madagascar in the Indian Ocean is probably the most well-known, producing around three thousand tons per annum. 

The issue with natural production is apparent

Vanilla production is labor-intensive. It can take up to 600 hand-pollinated blossoms to produce 1 kg of cured vanilla beans. Beans are picked while still green and sold to fermentation plants, where workers sort, steam and dry out the beans in the sun. 

Vanilla is also subject to market fluctuations : recently oversupply has resulted in a crash in prices. This has led to stockpiling of cured vanilla, resulting in a handful of investors driving down the price of ‘green’ vanilla for growers. When tropical storms batter growing regions, the price of cured vanilla fluctuates, creating profits for the investors but leaving farmers at a loss. This is an unsustainable cycle which leaves farms at the mercy of unstable markets, climate change and crop theft. Also, when stored for long periods in a warehouse, it is not in the best state to provide bioactive molecules, so we need to investigate different production routes for the end market.

Growing Vanilla in hydroponics 

We believe CEA could provide a solution, giving the opportunity to produce locally-grown vanilla which circumvents market fluctuations and storage issues. Despite limitations, researchers in Holland are pushing the boundaries in CEA, resulting in secure local production: Dutch growers are presently leading with greenhouse grown vanilla cultivars. 

Vanilla is a shade-loving epiphyte vine. It enjoys a humid environment where it can diffuse water and oxygen through air roots at optimal temperatures around 21-23^oC. Substrate needs to be free-draining: a combination of orchid mix and humus-rich compost around pH 6-7 should suffice.

Vanilla orchid flowering. But one must be quick, – there is limited time to pollinate tricky orchid vanilla flowers within a twelve-hour window.  Vanilla Tahitensis (pictured) is a cross between Vanilla Planifolia and Vanilla Odorata. Many lesser grown varieties could provide a valuable source of unique bioactives. 

The rise of synthetic biology versus CEA – they should ideally operate side by side to bridge gaps in preventative medicine in addition to food production and pharmaceuticals. 

Given the limitations in the latter methods, an opportunity could present itself for Agritech companies to exploit more efficient ways to produce vanillin. This includes protoplast scale-up and stem cell precision techniques to provide increased biodiversity for extraction of the full vanilla entourage effect, whereby many compounds in the plant work together to magnify the effect. 

Vanilla Bourbon sourced from Madagascar (image from The Functional Plant Co.) shows a node from the vine in sterile tissue culture with new root and shoot formation (arrows) that acts as a source for new and undifferentiated cells. These cells can be scaled in perpetual bioreactors under the ideal conditions to produce cellular bioactives of interest.

Health care of the future includes a viable role for CEA

Many bioactives known to improve human health have already been extracted from well known plants including  Turmeric, Aloe Vera, Vanilla, Saffron, Ginseng, Ashwagandha and Echinacea, to name a few. All of these have been successfully grown in CEA so who knows the possibilities. Others, like Wasabi, are awaiting discovery to literally enjoy their day in the sun or under LED lamps.

With new ways to quantify the plant metabolome and predict physiological changes in human health, the field of metabolomics is opening up efficient ways to study changes in the class and contents of metabolites in different parts of the same plant, and at different levels of plant maturation. Control of growth is going to be a key factor.

We know the type and concentration of bioactives produced by a plant are influenced by a multitude of environmental factors. The most relevant are light, airflow, temperature, humidity, water, CO₂, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and substrate characteristics.

All these aspects variably affect the quality and quantity of specialized metabolites, limiting extensive exploitation until a high level of process standardization is achieved. Improving the productivity of functional plants will require innovative solutions that increase yields in both greenhouse and indoor farming. Implementing cultivation in controlled conditions is a potential solution for ensuring the best growing conditions, where not only all the variables can be held for the optimal growing conditions, but also the plant metabolism can be forced and stressed to stimulate the biosynthesis of valuable compounds.

Let’s return to the original question: should we extract bioactives to develop clinical drugs?

Preventative medicine is always going to take the form of a healthy diet and lifestyle (i.e. tomatoes) whereas reactive healthcare is likely to benefit more from purified bioactive molecules (i.e. Lycopene). The CEA industry has many advantages over traditional breeding programs which position growers at the forefront of unlocking the power of plants to amplify the amount of the compound for drug development. 

Through recent turbulent times in the industry, it has become clear CEA farms will need to adapt. According to the investment sector, farms of the future are likely to include the following characteristics:

• Differentiated genetics enabling higher yields and/or broad produce varieties
• Industrial automation which, when combined with biotechnology, drives positive product unit 
• economics.

Farmers in a Venture with scientists – Is that a big Chris Higgins horti beard we spy?

Where farmers are proactive – in that their healthy produce prevents disease – scientists are more reactive: their products treat disease, tackling health problems from a different angle. Despite the difference in approach, there’s no doubt scientists could benefit from partnerships with CEA farmers and breeders to provide clean plant material.  Uniformity is likely to be a main driver in the discovery of these bioactives, and CEA farmers are in a perfect position to drive it forward. Both can collaborate with technology providers to create the right environment to produce sustainable bioactives. 

Unless otherwise stated, all images are from The Functional Plant Co and property of Urban Ag News.  Our experts, Dr Janet Colston and Dr Shashank Saini are available to answer any questions you may have on bioactive exploration. 

Janet Colston PhD is pharmacologist with an interest in growing ‘functional’ foods that have additional phytonutrients and display medicinal qualities that are beneficial to human health. She grows these using a range of techniques including plant tissue micropropagation and controlled environmental agriculture to ensure the highest quality control.

Grapes are an economically important commodity, supplying fresh, dried, and processed markets worldwide. Although grapes are not a crop you immediately consider a beneficiary of CEA technology, it may be possible to adapt field agriculture, putting in measures to circumvent climate change and disease. 

The last few years I’ve been attempting to grow my own grapevine indoors, so when Chris Higgins shared the main photo I felt excited to learn how they were using LED lights to help fruit mature on vines in California. 

Could CEA also work for my grapevines?

Scotland is not known for wine but with changing climates and carefully chosen hardy varieties it could provide some competition for our national drink. Success at home is just around the corner as I begin season three with my black Hamburg grape (Schiava Grossa) grafted on S04 rootstock. It’s hopeful too, as earlier than expected it is producing trusses. The learning curve is not as steep as you may think and the trick is to not give up with a fruitless vine. 

We will take a look at the growing environment, the diseases that can be encountered and the pests that need to be eliminated by controlling some of the processes. Then we will examine some real Californian vineyards and how they are adapting and integrating CEA technology to increase efficiency and yield, battling against ever changing climates and earlier than predicted seasonal frosts. 

Year 3 indoors black Hamburg (dessert grape)  in central Scotland

Wine has an important role in world trade

Grapes were one of the earliest fruits cultivated for use as a beverage, and statues in ancient Roman culture were often adorned with grapes and wine decanters. In fact, many of the production principles first developed in ancient Rome can be found in winemaking today. Wine is classed as a cultured beverage and body, flavor, aroma, keynotes and vintage all play a part in how we decide to consume it. Aside from commercial vineyards, many vines can be cultivated under glass. This can be a lean-to, a conservatory, a polytunnel or a glasshouse, it doesn’t really matter. Mine are grown in a conservatory with great levels of natural light and temperatures rising to 105°F which helps ripen the fruit. 

The global wine market was valued at USD 417.85 billion in 2020 and growth is expected to expand to 6.4% CAGR by 2028. According to a recent report Italy, France, and Spain were the top three producers of wine worldwide as of 2022. In the Americas, Chile has the leading share of exports, almost three times more than the USA and Canada. Changing consumer preferences are evident with demand for fresh fruit, looking for year-round availability and consumers more willing to pay more for imported out-of-season fresh grapes.

Growing and Grafting Vines

Choosing the right rootstock is vital to ensure a successful harvest since the parent vine, Vitis. vinifera does not provide adequate resistance against phylloxera Vastatrix, a deadly root infection caused by the aphid-like insect, Daktulosphaira vitifoliae (Fitch). Phylloxera weakens the vines causing root galls making it susceptible to fungal infections. It has plagued vineyards, decimating crops in California, and completely devastated vines planted on AXR1 type B rootstocks. It is estimated to have cost the industry $6 billion to uproot valuable mature vines and replant with vines grafted onto sturdier rootstocks. 

To overcome this disease, grapes are grown on rootstocks from a variety of Vitis species selected from native areas or hybrids that use native species to form new rootstocks. The most commonly used are Vitis rupestris, V. riparia, V. berlandieri, and V. champinii. A grafted vine consists of the scion which is seen above ground and the rootstock which provides the root system and lower trunk joined at the graft union (protected with wax like above). 

Image by Wine Folly

Pruning is an artform and traditional viticulture techniques require patience and skill passed down through generations. Below are a few training techniques used in viticulture but you can learn more by following Dan from apicaltexas with great videos on pruning techniques in the field. 

Developing the vineyard should factor the best rootstock suited for particular environmental conditions. Soil type, pest resistance, tolerance to drought, wetness, salinity, and lime must all be considered when siting a vineyard.

Most experts suggest loamy soil as the best type of soil for grape growing. A crumbly mix of sand, silt, and clay when blended with other soils in the right amounts offers the ideal soil type. This is because the clay in loam drains well but also contains moderate amounts of water and nutrients within the preferred pH range (pH 6.5-6.8). Sonoma and Napa Valley are both loam soil regions. 

Even though grapevines are considered relatively tolerant to water deficits, growth and yield can be reduced in drought-like conditions. Drought tolerant rootstocks enable the scion to grow and yield even when water supplies are limited, a desirable trait if irrigation is likely to cause waterlogging in heavy clay soil. Acidic soils are common in many viticultural growing regions, and liming is common-practice to increase soil pH. The salinity of irrigation water and rising water tables can also affect productivity in grapevines which can have a  detrimental effect on wine quality.

Rootstocks can have a pronounced influence on the mineral nutrition of the fruiting variety. Vigorous vines can deplete zinc levels while increasing the uptake of potassium with regular soil analysis crucial to produce the best fruit. 

While growing under cover may not suit large scale vineyards, certainly the early stages can be started off under greenhouse control much like blueberries. A drip irrigation system will work well to ensure a good source of minerals is available at the root base with free drainage. 

If you are planning to grow in containers, a half barrel size is more than adequate with a light multipurpose compost. There’s no doubt selection of soil can be tricky because the soil type needs to work for both the vine and the rootstock. Remember sandy soil seems to have an advantage in resistance to phylloxera.

Microclimates & Disease Prevention 

Year one begins with training the cordon or guyot from the rootstock to produce two dominant shoots. Year two and the tendrils will form without fruiting but it is not until year three that fruit trusses will become visible on most vines. These can then be trained as desired with supports. How vigorous the growth develops will hugely depend on whether it’s grown as scions or as dominant root stocks. 

Mildew, powdery (Erisyphe necator) and downy (Plasmopara viticola) mildew are the predominant diseases encountered in viticulture. These favor successive periods of hot and humid conditions. Suppression of grapevine powdery mildew is problematic with resistance built up to systemic fungicides. This can also lead to weakened vines and susceptibility to Botrytis (botrytis cinerea) another fungal disease which affects almost every part of the vine, usually caused by high humidity coupled with strong winds. Mitigation traditionally introduces better airflow through the truss and canopy, pinching out individual berries can assist, allowing for circulation to circumvent rot problems. New ideas using light treatments are being trialed at Cornell university and UV treatments applied once a week up to 200 J/m2 on Chardonnay vines have proven to reduce powdery and downy mildew conidia germination by almost 100% and 50% respectively. 

Image sourced from David M. Gadoury, Cornell.

LEDs have also been shown to boost yields. RB light encourages leaf growth and fruit maturation but little experimentation has been possible due to field positioning of grapes. Perhaps in the future we will see these autonomous tractors lighting up fields at night.

Frost damage

The French prevent early bud loss by using fire candles between vines. It’s a risky business balancing crop loss from frost with fire damage if not controlled. Water sprays are often employed to protect against frost damage by forming ice crystals around the buds during cold weather. 

Microclimates play a significant role in wine quality and cool ocean breezes inland result in thicker skins on the berries resulting in more color, tannin and concentration of flavor.

Field light spectrum can assist fruit bud development 

Improving knowledge of environmental triggers for bud burst in grapes can help to optimize plant productivity, especially in marginal climates. In particular, an improved knowledge of the physiology of bud burst is fundamental to enable better crop management.

The point where a quiescent axillary bud commences regrowth is governed by both metabolic and signaling functions, driven by light, energy, and oxygen availability. Several grapevine studies have investigated the influence of low-intensity light on shoot physiology, suggesting that it is adapted to a low-light environment. Removing the apex can result in axillary bud outgrowth, as can changes in light intensity and quality. Axillary bud outgrowth is regulated by signals from the apex, which contain several light quality and quantity sensing pigments. These phytochromes sense red and far-red light, while cryptochromes and phototropins are involved in the perception of blue light. Accumulating evidence supports the function of photoreceptors in blue light perception resulting in activation of photomorphogenic gene expression, stimulating bud outgrowth.

Field trials with inter-canopy LED lights in California. Reach out if you need advice, we are here to help. 

These photoreceptors regulate the expression of different transcription factors to coordinate light-dependent photomorphogenesis. 

An early indicator of the transition to bud burst is ‘sap-flow’ preceded by an increase in xylem pressure leading the an increase in auxin and sugars in the sap.

Applying light theory helps improve knowledge of the physiology of bud burst which is fundamental to better canopy and crop forecasting, as the timing and coordination of this event will influence flowering, fruitset, and ripening.

Indoor low intensity RB LED lights – in Scotland year 2 with no trusses but plenty of tendrils and good vine growth.

Pests

Leafhoppers, cochylis and Lobesia botrana are dreaded pests that cause considerable damage to grape crops. IPM plays an important role in scouting for early damage to prevent disease. Prevention by spraying crops with regulated fungicides helps limit damage.  

Micropropagation of new grape varieties 

Starting Clean

Fungal and viral infections have plagued vineyards particularly in California where in the 1980s the deadly root infection phylloxera returned, completely devastating vines planted on AXR1 rootstocks. 

Viruses reduce plant vigor and delay bud break, and can be transmitted through vegetative propagation. Rapid micropropagation techniques can produce clean, disease-free, and vigorous plant material in a shorter time period, compared to conventional propagation techniques. 

There are many reasons why breeding is important to the wine industry, and my friends at PCT wrote a neat article on why growing clean clones is one of the most efficient methods to scale grape plantlets. 

New growth from a nodal cutting of my black Hamburg in initiation MS media growing under different low intensity LED spectrums.

A number of micropropagation techniques can be employed to clone grapes. Meristem culture induced from nodal cuttings can help to eliminate endophytes and produce virus free clones like above. 

Sweet seedless grapes like cotton candy are produced via embryogenesis. Others like Selma Pete, a white grape, are grown for the raisin market. The power of breeding a particular variety for a select market can pay dividends. 

Health properties of grapes

Health properties of grapes and grape juice are well documented particularly the black varieties which have higher anthocyanin levels, with known anti-inflammatory properties. Grape juice is a great way to boost immune systems and stay healthy. What we do know for sure is that resveratrol is well absorbed in the body and offers some exciting anticancer properties. Probably best to consume through black grape juice if you are concerned about the alcohol content in wine. 

Turning grapes into wine 

‘The older the vine the better the wine’ is a common saying in the industry, meaning the skin to pulp ratio increases creating a more intense flavor. Vines can be anywhere from 20 years to 120 years old and still produce good quality fruit. Some growers also believe older vines with deep root systems are more efficient at transferring minerals. 

One thing’s for sure, there’s more science in wine making than you can shake a stick at! It’s chemistry without cooking. Even for hobbyists it’s a great pastime and relatively cheap to get started. As a student I was taught how to make wine in demijohns, it was a relatively simple process. Yeast varieties can also have a significant effect on alcohol production. My final year degree project was to establish the budding rate of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the most common species of yeast in winemaking. Ah, that stirred tank fermenter with all those sensors, part biology, part engineering…..

Begin with good quality grapes and crush and press down hard until the bunches are smashed and the juice is released. For reds, ferment the juice, skins and seeds after removing stems. 

At least 5 gallons of white grape juice can make five gallons of wine. Pour the juice into a demijohn. White grape juice is green to start and as it oxidizes it will turn a brown color during fermentation. Add wine yeast at a comfortable room temperature. It will foam as it releases carbon dioxide within a day or two, which signals the start of the process. Use an airlock to keep oxygen out and allow the carbon dioxide produced by to escape. 

Red ‘must’ can be fermented in a large open container with just a towel, add wine yeast, and give it a good stir. It may begin to ferment in as little as 12 hours.

Red wines need to be stirred, at least twice per day when fermentation is going strong. You’ll see skin floating on the surface but just stir down regularly. Red wine should be around 80°F during fermentation. Test the sugar levels of the fermenting juice periodically with a basic hydrometer. It’s measured in degrees Brix, which equals sugar percentage will reduce to -2 Brix once fermentation is complete.

When the wine tastes like something you’d enjoy drinking, it’s time to bottle. Most white wines should mature after four to nine months whereas reds may take from six months to a year. You can learn more about winemaking from a course at Cornell or perhaps the ‘personality’ of wine from Jancis Robinson, an influential wine critic. Wine will benefit from a few weeks or months aging in the bottle, but who can wait that long? 

My top reds are Spanish and Italian and I’m partial to a Californian rose. Chris would not say no to anything from the Napa Valley. Slàinte Mhath. 

Janet Colston PhD is pharmacologist with an interest in growing ‘functional’ foods that have additional phytonutrients and display medicinal qualities that are beneficial to human health. She grows these using a range of techniques including plant tissue micropropagation and controlled environmental agriculture to ensure the highest quality control.

Unless otherwise stated all images are courtesy of The Functional Plant Company and property of Urban Ag News.

We know light exerts a powerful influence on plant growth. These effects can range anywhere from seed germination to leaf expansion and from flowering to fruiting. But, did you know it’s not only plants that benefit from changes caused by light? Human health can also be boosted by light induced changes in the fruits and vegetables we eat. These systems are interconnected. Read on to find out how CEA farmers could hold the key to both higher crop yields and better human health through the smart use of spectral low intensity LEDs.

Color Survival

As humans we cannot survive without food, water, air, or shelter. Some maybe curious to go further in asking what’s the point in just surviving if you don’t live a healthy, and colorful life. So, what do we really mean by a colorful life? Perhaps the ‘joie de vivre’ could be loosely defined by variety, intensity, and vibrancy in our lives. The similarity to the definition of color, is patently obvious, correlating with chroma, value and hue. We want to show you how interconnected and highly dependent we are on light and color in growing fruitful crops with health promoting factors (aka; Natural products/Specialized Metabolites).

As farmers in CEA we are at the forefront of lighting technology, pushing the boundaries of understanding in the requirement to produce the best quality crops with the greatest impact on our health. Often we are told to ‘eat the rainbow’ in order to provide a range of nutrients for health. With this in mind it is even more important than ever for growers to use their knowledge and appropriate technology to increase their value proposition with efficient growing and marketing of their products.

What are the elements that make up color? 

We see the world in a multi coloured spectrum of reflected light wavelengths. Of course ‘visible’ light is only a small part of the wide spectrum which as a whole also includes ultraviolet, and far red wavelengths. Structures called cones (rods are used for night vision and low photon light) in the back of our eyes refract visible light like a prism below to send a signal to our brains which helps us distinguish colors. Most often in life we see visible light split into its constituents when a rainbow forms and electrons are diffracted through raindrops. How much color is relevant and used by a given plant, we aim to find out. 

Light penetrates air, water, and through our shelters if we don’t block it out so we must gather data on how much radiation traverses the greenhouse and other structures which give shelter to crops. Integral to this is the daylight integral or DLI, the optimal amount of light a plant needs over a day. This helps us establish when to add further efficiencies with supplemental light and tailored spectral recipes. 

How do plants perceive light? 

Plants are dependent on their ability to sense and interact to their surroundings to optimize their chances of survival. What happens in the plant world is very interesting and light has several known actions on plant growth and development.

Deeper in the chloroplast within the thylakoids lie the photosystems that serve as the site for absorption of sunlight. Special structures called photoreceptors detect an array of wavelengths, allowing them to ‘perceive’ light and send a signal in the direction of growth. Similar to human eyes a wide range of photoreceptors exist, including phytochromes, cryptochromes, phototropins and ultraviolet-B receptors help plants discriminate light signals from ultraviolet to visible to far red wavelengths. Of course it’s much more complicated than we can talk about in this short article but essentially the plant has a control mechanism that distinguishes wavelengths through these photoreceptors and a metabolic switch to biological reactions.

In summary the leaf interface acts as a mini processor, where energy from excitatory photons hitting the thylakoids catalyze the photosynthetic pathway between carbon and water to produce glucose and oxygen. This directly impacts cell signaling, including metabolic, morphological and physiological changes in plants.

It is important to take into account not only spectrum but also efficacy of LED lamps as this determines the number of photons hitting the leaf surface. This means lights should be balanced for growth and less likely to be separated as defined by the image below. Instead they are low intensity LEDs incorporating blue wavelengths and appearing white, or balanced red and blue wavelengths, the latter appearing pink. It is important to take advice from a quality LED vendor and compare the market as not all LEDs are equivalent quality. Reach out if you need advice.

As more academic research into LED lighting becomes available, increased awareness of specific wavelength induced changes will help efficiency in new crops for higher biomass and increased stable levels of health promoting specialized metabolites for human health.

Can varying spectrum LED lighting increase crop traits and efficiency?  

Light exerts a powerful influence on most vegetable tissues, and there can be no doubt that it generally tends to check their growth” – Charles Darwin, 1880 (The Power of Movement in Plants)

In CEA we have the advantage of an agricultural phenomenon that can harness data on each of the nine environmental variables that impact yield including diffracted wavelengths. This ultimately helps refine and optimize processes for farmers.

Different wavelengths help plants achieve various goals. In general plants exposed to blue light encourage vegetative leaf growth, stem elongation and rooting whereas red light, when combined with blue, switches on genes for plants to flower and fruit. This is not surprising when experiments show an increase in chlorophyll content in the PAR range of the spectrum. Green wavelengths reflect most light (hence why we see them as green) but this specific wavelength is known to be responsible for deeper canopy penetration and absorption balance of excess energy in some plants. The latter is an important physiological step, often overlooked as not all energy is used in photosynthesis (remember it’s rate limiting) and excess energy must be dissipated safely as heat.

Although we class the photosynthetically active region (PAR) between 425-695nm, a nice study by Paul Kusuma at Wageningen showed the power of far-red photons influencing leaf area and stem elongation. Essentially the higher ratio of far red light can help plants stretch at night. He also found lower energy of far-red photons makes them useful in reducing electrical power inputs.

UV light on the other hand can be used in pulses to disrupt bacterial DNA and prevent disease in plants. Short term UV treatment has been shown to  improve performance for both seedlings and seeds that deliver long-term benefits, including improved crop consistency, increased yield and stronger disease resistance. This can increase the chance of producing healthy plants without viral invasion. As Darwin succinctly suggested, light provides nature’s way of balance. 

Learn more from the experts in horticulture lighting spectrum here.

Different wavelengths in Turmeric

When plants are grown in tissue culture, light, humidity, and nutrients can be tightly controlled. Although TC is an artificial state with immature leaf structure, it could be useful in predicting a smart spectral recipe, taking into account the lack of stomatal development. Low light intensity LEDs are typically employed as a strategy to prevent heat damage in immature propagules but different wavelengths could be more advantageous for certain desirable traits. For instance red, blue, and green LEDs have been found to have specific effects on plant growth rate, developmental characteristics, and production of bioactive specialized metabolites. 

We used turmeric as an example of how to control light for different growth and specialized metabolite requirements.

Under low intensity LEDs, we can encourage rooting in turmeric but also elongation of shoots. We can also combine factors we know control growth like levels of plant growth hormones, humidity, gas exchange, liquidity of substrate and additions like activated charcoal to help some species like turmeric root better and this can also increase plant biomass. Good rooting and biomass gives plants a head start during acclimation. 

Turmeric shoots multiplied under Arize Lynk LEDs (red blue) as they continue simultaneous growth of both leaf area and roots in the multiplication phase. It’s not always desirable to let roots grow out in the multiplication phase as they tend to be more vulnerable to infection particularly if using high sucrose as a carbohydrate source. Reducing the ratio of blue can help reduce rooting during this stage. When in the multiplication phase, the level of cytokinin (shooting) to auxin (rooting) is increased but we also can utilize light to control growth as desired.

Acclimation

As turmeric acclimates and the plants develop mature leaves, Arize Lynk LEDs  are better for leaf growth and an advantage to increase foliage biomass. We know from other studies that turmeric grown in the acclimation phase, under RB spectrum increases phytochemicals, such as polyphenols, flavonoids, sugars, and boosts curcumin biosynthesis. 

Turmeric is a perennial spice that can reach a height of about 1m. To increase turmeric rhizome size requires higher light intensity light and increased oxygenation of roots during the growth stage taking up to a year to produce good harvestable yields in different systems. Prior to harvest, farmers should consider supplemental RB light and higher intensities, to increase anthocyanin content. 

While we do not have the results from studies of isolated green light, we postulate that green light is efficiently absorbed deep into the canopy during rapid growth periods. If you time the crop season right, natural sunlight allows for a reduction in energy consumption while using the whole visible spectrum more efficiently (that is if wavelengths are not deflected from the structure you are growing within). 

Growing plants like turmeric in CEA for the entire crop cycle is unsustainable and farmers should consider hybrid models to produce the best results and yields for the end user product and market they target. For instance if the product is for specialized metabolites then by all means grow and process in as close as possible to sterile environments but if the market is for color and curry, open fields are more realistic. 

The power of hue in health. 

Did you know sir Isaac Newton invented the first color wheel in 1666? I did not!

Artists have studied and designed other wheels based on Newton’s concept. Most color wheels have a total of 12 main divisions (as we see from the chart), but then subdivided again we have 24.The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. The secondary colors are green, orange, and purple and the tertiary colors are yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green, and yellow-green. The problem is that color is not a quantifiable way to determine the anthocyanin content of a given fruit, leaf or rhizome. 

The Munsell color scheme on the other hand could be the way to distinguish higher levels of anthocyanin. The color scheme comprises hue, value, and chroma. Anthocyanin pathways are complex and often unstable due to oxidation but if stabilized using supplemental LED lights it could be a quantitative roadmap. Using the Munsell system could help us understand color related health values in the same way that brix value quantifies sweetness in fruit sugars.

A change in the color of plant skin, leaf, fruit, and rhizome indicates when plants are ready for harvest. But do we ever consider we can control this process? It’s called the stress reaction in plants. Some fruits with purple skins will have higher Munsell values. We can correlate color intensity of blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries with higher levels of antioxidants. As a fluorescence scientist I know there are many spectrophotometer devices that could be used to quantify color values. An example of color versus phytonutrients can be seen in bilberries. Bilberries exhibit darker hues than farmed blueberries and have significantly higher anthocyanin content compared to the latter. Could we, in the future, have a hand held device for farmers to know the level of anthocyanin?

Other research articles reviewed the targeted use of LEDs, i.e. blue range (400-500 nm) of spectrum and found blue light is efficient in enhancing the accumulation of phytochemicals.

The flavonoid Curcumin in turmeric trapped in vesicles can range in diverse yellow-orange hues. Curcumin is a bright yellow chemical compound that gives turmeric its color. It is not readily soluble in water, but is in other carriers. Electrons in the curcumin molecule absorb energy from ultraviolet light and move to a more excited state. Try this interesting experiment if you are a teacher, it will get your students attention.  

Stability of phytonutrients.

Curcumin in turmeric has been well proven in the lab to kill many types of cancer cells. Why does this not translate to the body? The biosynthetic pathways are highly unstable and curcumin has extremely low bioavailability. It is only when curcumin is combined with piperine that we see positive effects. Even then, the marketing of products containing turmeric has led us to believe they can cure ALL ills, when they cannot. We are not insinuating these functional plants don’t have potential, but we are concluding it is dependent on stability and bioavailability of active metabolites. 

If you read our personal health journey’s you will discover like we did the best kept secret in medicine; that is if you are ill, a colorful plant based diet will give you a fighting chance. 

Image of different zingiberaceae species courtesy of our friends at Spade and Clover, Johns Island, South Carolina. 

Should we continue experimenting with environmentally friendly ways to produce the healthiest plants?
Absolutely, there is more to discover. 

We know there is variability in the level of curcumin in commercial turmeric and native turmeric alone has low bioavailability. This means that, under normal circumstances, little is absorbed from the gut into the body. Increased stable levels of specialized metabolites could have potential to produce similar metabolic and physiological effects to what we see in the lab. 

Light up your plants for Specialized Metabolites
Increasing the quantity and quality of curcumin using low intensity spectral LEDs at the correct time in the growing cycle can increase important specialized metabolites possessing various pharmacological properties providing increased carrier opportunity to cross membranes and produce stable physiological effects.

Is a turmeric based curry the healthiest meal you can eat?

In India, turmeric is commonly known as “haldi” (Sanskrit; haridra). 

• Preceding Vedic culture, turmeric has been used for more than 4000 years in India, where it was used as an edible spice with ceremonial significance still practiced today. 
• According to Ayurveda and Unani systems, turmeric has a long history of medicinal use in South Asia. In fact, in 1280 Marco Polo talked about turmeric as the new wonder spice having qualities similar to that of saffron. 
• Susruta’s materia medica (250 BCE), mentioned a formulation of ointment containing turmeric as a major ingredient, having anti-inflammatory properties which helps in reducing the effects of food poisoning.

Indian recipes are a great way to boost the immune system, reduce inflammation, and improve cognitive functions. Turmeric and black pepper together have impressive health benefits, due to the metabolites curcumin and piperine. As piperine enhances curcumin absorption in the body by up to 2,000%, combining the spices magnifies the effects. You can read more about growing turmeric and the beneficial health effects from our previous article. 

Now if this doesn’t inspire you to make a wonderful healthy grain inspired curry, and buy the freshest ingredients from your local farmer we haven’t done our job right. 

All Images unless otherwise stated are the property of Urban Ag News, please ask for permission to reprint our articles. We are indebted to our friend Dr Shashank Saini for his diligent review of this article.

Janet Colston PhD is pharmacologist with an interest in growing ‘functional’ foods that have additional phytonutrients and display medicinal qualities that are beneficial to human health. She grows these using a range of techniques including plant tissue micropropagation and controlled environmental agriculture to ensure the highest quality control.

Unless otherwise stated all images are courtesy of The Functional Plant Company and property of Urban Ag News.

“You should never hesitate to trade your cow for a handful of magic beans. “ — Tom Robbins 

 Protein Replacement is a hot topic 

Nutrition and protein replacement in particular is a global health concern with implications for the future direction of the planet, not least because the tide could be turning on less sustainable types of food production. We have had some in CEA evangelizing about the power of CEA to feed us all in the future, but the reality is that we need all agricultural practices to work together where appropriate to create resilient sustainable supply food chains close to where people live. Given this opportunity we should consider how we assist the creation of new plant proteins in hi tech towers and glasshouses. It is with this thought in mind that we could be overlooking the potential of the fabaceae family which includes legumes (pulses are the edible dry seeds) that have sustained entire continents in times of need.

Getting real with alternative proteins 

We want to explore if pulses and specifically beans grown in CEA could provide complementary protein to that found traditionally in meat, dairy, fish and more recently, cellular meat (which is different from plant based burgers that incorporates soy, wheat, potato or mushroom protein). It should be noted that cellular meat also uses soy protein for scaffolds i.e. a lattice for cells to grow into 3D meat.

Let’s begin with an argument. Many in the medical community advocate a plant based diet to be wholly adequate to supply all the body’s protein requirements. Others argue that plants do not contain an adequate source of protein and that animal protein is essential for supplementing our diets. It could be time to challenge the assumption that ‘real men eat meat’. Whatever your stance, we do know that essential amino acids, thought to be less abundant in plant based diets, could in part be provided by chickpeas and soya beans, helping to supplement vegan or vegetarian diets. Make sure you add seeds, nuts, whole grains and lentils to ensure you get all nine essential amino acids. If you are worried about the lack of Vitamin B12 which cannot be provided by vegetables, try a source of shiitake mushrooms or nori seaweed in your diet. 

‘Beans are a great value for money meal and source of protein during the cost of living crisis’

While I’m old enough to have visions of Mel Brooks blazing saddles around the campfire, there are so many delicious recipes that create a heart warming meal from a range of pulses, legumes and lentils. Theoretically speaking it is better for the planet too if we consider biogenic methane production from a cow’s four stomach chambers versus our human gut should we consume more beans as our protein source in preference over animal protein. 

A trick to avoid gas: Eat more beans! Why? We often lack an enzyme called alpha-galactosidase produced by gut bacteria. This enzyme helps break down complex sugars that can, if not fully digested, cause excessive wind. As your body gets used to eating more beans (they act as a prebiotic to increase the good bacteria), more enzyme is produced in the gut to digest these carbohydrates. 

Beans are a staple in the diets of many underdeveloped countries, they taste good in meals and can in fact cost far less than meat based stews. They are also on a calorie ‘like for like’ basis much better for your health as well as being cheaper to produce. So the question then becomes, can we grow them close to where people live and in large enough quantities? 

Many people are unaware that chickpeas and other pulses contain components that when eaten as part of a balanced plant-rich diet, help prevent the development of diseases like diabetes and heart disease. These beans have a soluble fiber called raffinose, which is fermented in the colon by beneficial bacteria and has been shown to reduce inflammation. Chickpeas also contain a cholesterol like plant sterol called sitosterol that can trick the body into lowering blood cholesterol levels. The satiating effect of the high fiber and protein content of chickpeas may also help with weight management, another major factor in lifestyle disease progression.

The practicality of growing bean vines in VF like many other plants is dependent on the number of plants per square foot, breeding programmes to increase nodes (spectrum is likely to play an important function in early flowering) and compliant technology. Research into the economic efficiency for well designed CEA facilities (lights, oxygen, fertilizer) and indoor grow rooms should be considered versus higher energy outputs when considering new crops like beans. But, with quick production cycles and all year round growing potential, farms could easily be adapted much like other vines such as tomatoes and chillies to grow unique high protein legumes. They could even be tacked onto the side of existing horizontal structures with additional inter-canopy lighting. High production cycles are likely to determine profitability so modeling through trials is recommended.

The Functional Plant Co in Scotland have been studying beans like Lima and ways to increase nodal development in CEA TC to produce high quality slips for continuous batch supply to plant factory’s.

Native American Beans are steeped in tradition 

Pole beans were a staple of Native Americans with more than 5000 known varieties spread worldwide. They have a long tradition in Native American culture including the Hopi tribe, whose Bean Clan is called Murzibusi. Such importance has been associated with beans, that some eastern tribes, like the Lenape, Shawnee and Iroquois actually have a ‘Bean Dance’ amongst their tribal dance traditions. Despite myths of their Mexican origins, Anasazi beans are thought to have been cultivated throughout generations of Southwestern Native American tribes. Today these beans are commonly used in many Latin American and Southwestern cooking turning pink once cooked, and are often used in refried bean recipes due to the sweetness. Remember it was the Indians that invented succotash with sweetcorn, lima and other mixed beans.

The Many Health benefits of beans 

Regular consumption of beans has been linked to disease prevention, including cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

Beans have a strong nutritional profile, marked by a high amount of iron, calcium and potassium per serving. As well as antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties, beans have a low glycemic index and are found to be high in lectins, a glucose-binder, with potential to avoid sugar spikes and naturally treat diabetes. If that wasn’t enough, the anti-inflammatory effects of these magical beans may also help you fight cancer.

The Color Purple 

The red/blue color of beans is due to a group of biological pigments called anthocyanins. This same group of compounds is also responsible for the rare blue pigments we see in nature.

Nonna Agnes Beans

An analysis of black beans showed most of the anthocyanins to be delphinidin, with lesser amounts of petunidin and malvidin. Delphinidin and malvidin are responsible for the blue color in various flowers. Petunidin is described as having a dark-red/purple color adding to greater health benefits.

Growing Beans in CEA

One of the most commonly used Native-American gardening techniques was ‘Three Sisters’, probably the first no till agriculture method on the continent. They planted corn, squash and bean seeds together. The beans provide nitrogen for the soil, the corn was a natural trellis and the squash a canopy to deter pests. 

The three sisters’ companion planting originated from native Indian farming of maize, beans and squash. 

Respectfully we’ve come a long way since then but as we look for protein replacements, beans are a natural choice to incorporate in CEA farms. 

From three sisters to one grandma, Nonna Agnes pole bean, one day post germination in high strength Gibberellin. 

The seeds of Nonna Agnes, a pearlest blue heirloom bean from you guessed it, Italy, germinate in a day with the hypocotyl peeking through the outer layer and reaching for light via tropic geotropism. The strength in beans is phenomenal as the large carbohydrate seed store forces the tap root downwards and shoots up. 

In normal soil production this can take several days longer than germinating in a controlled environment. Obviously the stronger the young plants, the more vigorous they are and with inter-canopy spectral LEDs it is possible to force flowering much earlier than in the field, with higher yields in a shorter time frame. 

These modest-looking legumes pack a mighty health punch. In addition to being an aforementioned protein source, they are an excellent source of fiber and act as a prebiotic, providing a nutrient source for beneficial bacteria and microorganisms that make up the gut biome in our digestive tracts. 

Let there be light amongst the vines 

If we are to grow these kinds of crops in CEA we need internodal spaced LEDS or a vertical hanging design to ensure efficient light intensity delivery to ripen pods. We already grow tomatoes with aerial LEDs so alternative vine crops like beans should be no different. Much will come down to modeling of economic returns. New technology emerging such as intercanopy lights to grow indoor vines will also add to biomass with higher yields and increased flowering during off peak times of the year. Choosing low light varieties that are bred with increased nodes will have a big impact and can help growers switch during tough times for high energy costs. Beans are a perfect example crop that have enough variety to experiment with low light varieties. From the beans I tested, Amethyst, Lima and Pole viola do assiago all produced flowers in two weeks with one TLED at 100umols/m2/s followed by pods in 2-4 weeks and a small harvest in 6-10 weeks. 

Faba beans flowering under Currents RB balanced LEDs in Scotland during autumn with average day temps 15-20 Celsius and night lows of 6-10 Celsius. 

Soybean pods filling up

Another member of the fabaceae is Bambara (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.), an African equivalent of American peanuts growing from extended rhizomes. Also called the Congo groundnut, it is a fast growing plant, but needs warm temperatures over 150 days cultivation. Recent studies have found it to be very high in protein, providing all of the daily nutritional requirements of protein, carbohydrate, unsaturated fatty acids and essential minerals (magnesium, iron, zinc, and potassium). The waste greens can be fed to livestock adding to nutrition and sustainable agriculture. 

Unusual varieties like Bambara could be grown in locations previously unheard of, circumventing international supply chains and reducing carbon footprints. 

In Africa these beans are grown on small-scale subsistence farms by women, in a rotation with other crops like maize to fix nitrogen in the soil. Despite interest from international companies attracted to its high protein content, the supply chain for Bambara is not yet secure. An opportunity awaits CEA farmers with a warming climate. Perhaps even Texas could become a great location for a new crop. Germination can be slow because of the hard seed coat but once released from this we can use growth regulators to increase germination rates in addition to trialing micropropagation techniques to produce high quantity slips. 

Nonna Agnes Beans developing under Currents RB balanced TLEDs indoors in Scotland above.

Amethyst bean pods to the right and harvest below, the color change is evident in the last week of production.

How we preserve these crops for the future 

There is no doubt beans are cheap, sustainable (you can save some seeds for next year), easy to grow and packed full of protein with great health benefits suggesting they are not only good for the cook-book but also for the planet. Variety is key to the success of beans and we hope you look further afield (intentional pun) to incorporate these fine pearlest beans as a regular CEA crop.

Don’t know where to start? The Crop Trust in Svalbard, an archipelago off Norway holds a massive bank of beans, conserved from farmers across the world. Of course this is worthless if farmers don’t have access to or take the opportunity to grow these conserved varieties. You can only request samples from depositing genebanks. As the seed bank shows, the way forward is cooperativity between growers around the globe. Breeding of heirloom varieties as well as processing via partners and marketing sustainable protein replacement to consumers will encourage the FMCG industry to create healthy plant based protein products in the future.

Janet Colston PhD is pharmacologist with an interest in growing ‘functional’ foods that have additional phytonutrients and display medicinal qualities that are beneficial to human health. She grows these using a range of techniques including plant tissue micropropagation and controlled environmental agriculture to ensure the highest quality control.

Unless otherwise stated all images are courtesy of The Functional Plant Company and property of Urban Ag News.

Zafferano Siciliano Crocus produces large saffron stigmas.

Saffron (Crocus sativus L., a member of the Iridaceae family) is prized for its unique yellow color in culinary dishes and loved by chefs for its flavor in many of our foods. The high cost comes from the fact that it needs to be grown in a particular climate and the long red stigma must be laboriously collected by hand. 

In the US, saffron is traded for up to $10,000 per kilo but this is highly dependent on the final graded product (graded 1- 4, 4 is the best quality and has a high safranal content with the red stigma separated from the yellow anther). The problem is, it takes around 150,000 flowers to produce 1kg of dried saffron. So we want to know, is it really worth it for CEA farmers? Let’s take a closer look at saffron’s history and the pros and cons of growing the most expensive spice in the world.

A long illustrious history of production 

Ancient artworks revealed saffron was domesticated around 300 to 1600 BC and was thought to have been originally harvested as a mutant of Crocus cartrightianus which was abundant around the time in the Mediterranean.

The origins of saffron agronomy date back to Iran and today the country is responsible for producing over 90% of the world’s saffron where it has both historical and ceremonial importance in Persian culture. Other areas of production stretch across the Mediterranean where conditions are perfect for growing most notably North Africa, Morocco, Spain, Greece, Italy and India. The Spanish love the color in traditional paella whereas the Italians use it for signature risotto dishes like Risotto alla Milanese. 

How does it grow naturally?

Visible two to three flowers per saffron corm

Saffron is adapted to arid regions and has an annual life cycle, but it is generally cultivated as a perennial crop by controlling corm bulb growth for the following year. It is a sterile triploid geophyte and is relatively slow to replicate through daughter corms each year. In the field, corms that die back after flowering and unusually have no cold requirement to break their dormancy. They can be lifted from the field during this time and stored in a dry shed before planting out again in spring, although they are hardy and can withstand low soil temperatures. 

Saffron has immense health benefits 

Saffron is abundant in phytochemicals, particularly picrocrocin which breaks down during the drying process to form safranal, which gives it the distinctive earthy taste. Another carotenoid pigment crocin, produces the golden yellow color when mixed with rice. Saffron also contains non-volatile antioxidants including lycopene and zeaxanthin which we identify with a Mediterranean diet, that are great for a long healthy life.

Crocus sativus L. has a wide array of medicinal and nutritional uses. Traditionally it goes way back as a drug alternative for many conditions such as heart disease, obesity, Alzheimer’s and diabetes. Several studies confirm the medicinal effects of the plant. Antioxidant effects demonstrate free radical scavenger activity that modulate inflammatory mediators, humoral immunity and cell-mediated immunity responses.

There are several clinical studies of these effects in its derivatives, safranal, crocin and crocetin. Researchers in Iran recently identified saffron as an effective treatment for mild postnatal depression. Saffron has since been shown to have mood altering effects thought to be the result of balancing neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain. In placebo comparison trials saffron had significant effects on levels of depression and displayed similar antidepressant efficacy to pharmaceuticals. 

A double blind study of more than 80 people found the effects of the spice effective in treating depression in adolescents, without any side effects or fear of withdrawal symptoms when stopping the saffron. Saffron extract (affron®) was given for 8 weeks and it was found to improve anxiety and depressive symptoms in youths with mild and moderate symptoms. Adults reported more mixed results so more studies are needed to be conclusive in the understanding and role of saffron in the treatment of depression.

Why do we need high value crops like saffron in CEA?

Growing saffron in a controlled environment can have many advantages; it’s cleaner, free from pests and disease, nutrients are delivered directly to the root mass, aeration with dissolved oxygen increases biomass, temperature can be maintained without fluctuations and light intensity can be well managed. Saffron needs high intensity light and this can be delivered by high efficiency LEDs without fluctuation, eliminating weather dependent uncertainty in the field. 

Despite the relative ease and low maintenance of growing in a controlled environment, it is the high flower numbers required to produce the end product and subsequent labor intensive ‘picking’ time that are the limiting factor. While in the field it is possible to grow three or more flowers per bulb per season (due to the daughter corms still being attached) the spacing requirements are more difficult to estimate in CEA until trials show optimized growth in a square meter space as smaller daughter corms will produce smaller stigma. We have no knowledge of large scale CEA production data and comparison to field harvests but scaling up in CEA may be more prohibitive due to labor costs. Perhaps automating this process in the future with robotic tweezers or re-engineering tissue culture pickers to use image analysis software with an ability to pick out the red stigma and separate from the anther would be useful, but we are some way off that at present.

Saffron has a high Market Value 

Regardless of the issues, saffron continues to be of interest to CEA growers due to its high value and growing global demand as a medicinal plant and diverse applications in the food industry as well as for cosmetics and dyes.

The global saffron market size is expected to reach USD 721.5 million by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, expanding at a CAGR of 8.5% over the forecast period.

Buyer beware! If you buy saffron and it seems cheap it’s more than likely to be fake!

Fake saffron is rife within this market and includes corn silk threads, safflower (an unrelated thistle), coconut filaments or even dyed horse hair, or shredded paper. 

Safflower (in tissue culture above) Carthamus tinctorius, is the most likely culprit. It is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual plant in the sunflower family Asteraceae and is often substituted for saffron. Each flower head contains 20–180 individual florets that can be confused with saffron to the untrained eye but the color gives it away as they are less intense than saffron stigma. 

Dyes used to color fake saffron will dissipate quickly and this can be tested easily in water. Despite this, safflower has some excellent qualities as an oil in its own right and is commercially traded in the EU. 

Growing conditions 

Temperature, light intensity/spectrum and humidity are particularly important in saffron cultivation. According to researchers in Vermont there are five main phases to the lifecycle of saffron production, sprouting, flowering, vegetative phase, production of replacement corms, and the dormant phase. Leaf area index, crop growth rate, relative growth rate, net assimilation rate, and leaf area ratio are all important.

A few entrepreneurs are paving the way by growing saffron in CEA. Dr Ardalan Ghilavizadeh pictured above is an expert hydroponics saffron grower from Iran and currently working in Munich.

Saffron is a short-day plant so requires a period of around 12 hours in the dark and 10-12 hours per day lights on (16-18hrs during flowering). According to Urbanleaf, saffron can be grown indoors and they suggest it will require a DLI of 15+ mols/m²/d to flower. They go on to propose that 24W light bulbs can be placed around 6 inches away from the top of the plants to deliver a PPFD of 500 μmol/m²/s. Ideal temperatures for saffron flowering are around 70°F but anything between 50 and 100°F grows well. We have some preliminary trials with saffron but experimenting with light spectrum may achieve the best results to promote flowering and maintain a stable temperature during flowering. Growing in hydroponics follows similar conditions to other flowering plants and saffron displays a wide pH range of 5.5 – 7 but it’s best stay around 6 for maximum nutrient uptake at EC 1.4. 

As with any production, IPM is important since saffron is prone to many diseases. Pathogens include fungal corm rot, nematodes, bacteria, and viruses. Diseases mostly appear as a consequence of physical damage or attacks by insects particularly mites and aphids.

Propagation of Saffron Corms 

Saffron male seed is sterile so it is propagated vegetatively using corms. Flower yield is highly dependent on corm size and density but lack of availability and diversity of plant material presents a major constraint for large scale CEA saffron production. A large corm above 8 grams produces three to four small daughter corms, which take 2 to 3 seasons (in the field a season is one calendar year but in CEA there is potential for four harvests annually) to achieve the size and weight for flowering. 

Forcing the bulbs through regular dormancy periods via CEA may help to promote cormogenesis.

Crocus sativus corms like rock wool for support to protect them against getting too wet. The method of hydroponics i.e. NFT or aeroponics must not allow the bulb to get too wet so it should sit proud of the rock wool substrate. They will root very quickly, around a week in our experience with aeroponic growing. 

Saffron Micropropagation 

Saffron is relatively slow to propagate and only produces a few vegetative corms on the main plant annually in late summer after flowering has finished and the leaves die back. Breeding programs are needed to increase diversity of the corms and micropropagation may provide a solution to access of clean stock material. Saffron research is limited with only a handful of teams working on genetics in India, Iran and Europe. This crop needs preservation of genetic biodiversity to protect its quality and sustainability for future agricultural production. 

Genetic diversity in corm supply is an issue so indirect organogenesis may provide new routes to improve cultivation of saffron. Tissue culture micropropagation, somatic embryogenesis, organogenesis, gene editing and in vitro cormogenesis can all help regenerate pathogen free reproduction of this plant. We are working to perfect this process. 

Processing 

Harvest first thing in the morning according to Dr Sally Francis, a field grower from Norfolk in the UK. The stigmas must be dried soon after harvest as they can become moldy. Besides the important role that dehydration plays in the preservation of saffron, it is also a necessary process to generate organoleptic properties in fresh stigmas. Dehydration treatment brings about physical and chemical changes necessary to achieve the desired quality of saffron. But be careful drying as over 150F can cause degradation of the phytonutrients.

Economics of growing Saffron in CEA – is it worth it financially?

On a 1 meter square shelf with a light intensity PPFD of 500 μmols/m²/s we can potentially grow 150 saffron bulbs (and assuming they each produce one dominant flower) with a spacing at least an inch apart to allow for flower development. Assuming they are forced to produce flowers 4 times per year, this rate could produce 600 flowers in a 1m² area annually. If 150 flowers produce 1g dry weight, a yield of 4g of dry weight saffron is possible from 150 corms per square meter annually (four harvests).

Assuming a 10 layer shelf with lights spaced 20” apart, there is potential to scale up to 40g in a vertical space and 10 bays could reach 0.4kg (in reality it should be higher depending on how many flowers the corm produces). Depending on the grade this could net a return of $4,000. Not a bad return if you exclude capital startup costs. However high energy consumption and revenue costs may substantially reduce profits per meter square. Calculations are difficult as it will depend on an hourly rate for a picker and the uncertainty of rising energy costs could also hamper the return on running such a facility. 

Issues that affect future stability of growing saffron 

The adverse effects of global warming and climate change on saffron flower induction could alter the way saffron is grown. As the global north becomes warmer and extreme weather events become more frequent we will begin to find these crops in more protected geo locations. Wars and poverty also play a role in agriculture and instability in the region could lead to reduced world availability. 

Niche high value product for the food service market – is that why we should grow it? 

While saffron may not be an obvious choice for most larger commercial CEA growers, it should not be discounted as a high value crop for the service industry, fitting with more niche restaurant based container farms. Saffron is fairly low maintenance until harvest and some are even automating growing, which will reduce labor costs as the stigma can be picked by the restaurants when required without post processing and delivered straight to the chef’s palette. The advantage is it can be grown anywhere, close to restaurants, in cities and of course we are biased but it may also go well with sushi and a side of real wasabi.  

Janet Colston PhD is pharmacologist with an interest in growing ‘functional’ foods that have additional phytonutrients and display medicinal qualities that are beneficial to human health. She grows these using a range of techniques including plant tissue micropropagation and controlled environmental agriculture to ensure the highest quality control.

Unless otherwise stated all images are courtesy of The Functional Plant Company and property of Urban Ag News.

Scotland has a great positive circular story that encompasses history, design, engineering, innovation, agriculture, skills, regeneration, energy, health, wellbeing and net zero. 

This is the story of how a group of visionary students redesigned the iconic Provan Gas Works into a vertical allotment to show off a greener side to Glasgow 

As the dust settles on COP26 some of Glasgow’s student professionals plan to design a greener, healthier city.

For more than a century Glasgow’s iconic gas works have been a significant feature from the north east entry to the city. Despite being redundant for decades, the much loved towers were given category B listing in 2018 by Historic Scotland ensuring the landmarks will continue to form part of the city’s skyline.

There has been much discussion about urban farming within the CEA space taking over derelict office space or setting up in shipping containers in cities. An idea from a group of young students in this green city is unique and could literally replace natural gas with natural greens. 

We heard about this idea from Charlie McGhee who was part of the InterAct team, a group of third year students at Glasgow Caledonian University including quantity surveyors, architects and engineers (see all the talented team at the end of article). They recently presented a unique idea for redesigning these iconic gas tanks into a vertical farm allotment. 

The Glasgow students decided these loved structures needed an upgrade and came up with a doughnut arrangement and proposed filling in the gaps on the structure with glass/perspex. Their vision is one of engineering construction and design that could encompass new ways to produce leafy greens. Their design also examined alternative ways to create circular green biofuels and solar power panels to keep the lights powered. With no roof on the structure they aimed to retain the outward integrity of the structure and designed a vertical farm with a minimalist infill box approach with allotment boxes that would be rented out and filled with plants in a recycled irrigation system. 

Built in 1904 the tanks give an unforgettable welcome to Scotland’s second city and situated on the main road artery through the central belt people have always seen them as a major landmark. The natural gas may be long gone and structure derelict, but it is possible they could serve a greater purpose with a new lease of life. 

Architectural Design History in Glasgow

Glasgow has a long association with architectural design. Charles Rennie Macintosh, the renowned Scottish architect behind the iconic Glasgow School of Art, Willow Tearooms and the Lighthouse was active in the city at the time the gasometers were constructed. 

The Lighthouse built in 1903

Could the Gas Works become the new Lighthouse? 

‘Glasgow Grows Green’ 

Green billboards could be a perfect marketing tool. Imagine giant electronic billboard screens projecting a direct message to a passing audience of 90,000 every day. What message would you send them? A message of perseverance and hope perhaps or maybe a message of health and well-being. We developed the idea as a marketing tool to reach people affected not only by the pandemic but also those affected by anxiety of a more dangerous world full of conflict, climate change and limited resources. 

We need everyone onboard and listening.  

Reach for the sky – What are you aiming for in life?

Can you imagine the giant electronic screens on the side of the towers, high in the sky displaying these images and subliminal messaging telling you that everyone is feeling the same and giving an air of optimism and oneness?

Post COP26 the excitement of ‘everyone in it together’ has somewhat dissipated in the media (just as Greta predicted). But the youth of Glasgow, they have different ideas and everything to gain from green projects. They never COP out! 

We have hardly seen any of the architectural designs neatly illustrated in Despommier’s vision of the 21st century come to fruition yet and become integral with our city food supplies.

We need investors and public bodies to recognise the importance of our youth coming up with these ideas and create green jobs for architects, surveyors, engineers, scientists and farmers of the future.

Glasgow Caledonian University InterAct Team

Architect students:

Arin Beaver, Neima Bouzy.

Engineering students:

Bryan Lipton, Abdalhameed Almohamad, Ismail Mohamed.

Quantity Surveyor students:

Charlie McGhee, Harrison Lee.

If you want to learn more about the students project  get in touch with us and we will hook you up with the team in Glasgow. 

Janet Colston PhD is pharmacologist with an interest in growing ‘functional’ foods that have additional phytonutrients and display medicinal qualities that are beneficial to human health. She grows these using a range of techniques including plant tissue micropropagation and controlled environmental agriculture to ensure the highest quality control.

You can follow The Functional Plant Company on Instagram. 

More from Janet Colston and Functional Food

STOP AND READ!  One does not have to move wholly to a vegetarian or vegan diet to gain much of the health benefits discussed in this article. As you read this article consider joining ‘Meatless Monday’,  simply reduce the size of the meat portions in your meals and purchase a vegetarian cookbook to gain inspiration.  Now please enjoy the remainder of the article.

There are many behavioral shifts that can happen in individual homes that may make all the difference to our health.

If we adopt a plant based diet to stay healthy, we not only protect our own health and that of our families, but we also reduce the burden on our hospitals and doctors as they cope with another pandemic surge. In the process there is potential to save ourselves money and reduce the demands on food supply chains particularly if we eat seasonal and locally grown foods.

In this article we concentrate on the health benefits of switching to a plant based diet from our own UAN plant based hero’s who offer an insight from two different experiences. 

(Climate change is not within the scope of this article but we appreciate some people will choose a plant based diet for reasons other than health and weight control). 

Concerns around keeping healthy can trigger a change to a plant based diet.

We are keen to share our personal stories that are equally likely to happen when you have either a health concern or a sports injury which forces you to change your diet and take control of your health. It is important to recognise that this is for people already on this journey and to share positive support stories. The journey is not always perfect and we can all agree it is okay to ‘fall off the wagon’ very occasionally to eat some donuts in the pursuit of happiness. 

Try shopping at local farmers markets for the freshest produce where you can literally eat the rainbow. 

Janet’s story – The start of 2021 was a personal turning point leading to her going fully plant based after more than half a century eating meat. A health concern and abdominal pains of unknown origin forced her to examine the underlying causes. The mystery pain could have been caused by any number of reasons. While doctors ordered tests (which was not easy in the middle of a pandemic), she questioned long covid, lactose intolerance, a gluten allergy, crohns, diverticulitis, Irritable bowel syndrome, stress or worst case scenario, bowel cancer. Being in general good health, both body and mind, she was concerned to have consistent pain for no reason. 

As the doctors worked through each of these with a battery of intensive tests, she considered whether it was time for a pure plant based approach. A year later, she says there is no clear reason for the mystery spasms in her sigmoid bowel. After much worry and the national health service a good few pounds lighter for the experience, the pain had disappeared. The difference was purely down to a change in diet. Yes that’s true, cured by a minor miracle of tomato juice transfusion with nebuliser of green tea, greens injected straight into the stomach and dare we say it, a garlic enema. Okay well that last one is a step too far, but many comments from our garlic covid article will reveal the benefits.

It’s still perplexing why some doctors do not fully discuss (and this could be down to the pandemic) a healthy diet but have all the time in the world to organize an expensive time consuming colonoscopy, several visits to consultants and countless lab tests. Now if you were a procurement specialist you may question the efficiency of this and the long term outcome versus cost. However, we have to face the facts, medicine has become a business and doctors acting in the best interest of patients are compelled to refer to an expert in fear of missing a major diagnosis. We don’t disagree. 

The point is, wouldn’t you rather have control of your health than rely on an overstretched health service? 

Switching to a plant based diet requires a degree of thought particularly if you suffer from an illness. The reason we say that, many plants will have active phytonutrients that can make your bowel extremely ‘reactive’ and increase metabolism rate initially. This in the short term can make you feel worse. Doing it gradually, by slowly cutting the number of processed meats (we are not advocating a complete cut of meat, remember this is a country of free will and is for those already looking for advice on how to do this switch) to limit it to at least 2 days per week for a start.

It doesn’t have to be complicated to have the best flavor, coriander* and spinach* Koftas with a lettuce* salad for lunch.

In tandem with any physiological concerns it’s also important to balance your psychological life and continue to achieve personal goals. For Janet, it is being competent to sail the archipelago of islands she calls home on the west coast of Scotland. We can’t emphasize how important it is to get outside to allow your skin to absorb sunshine which helps convert cholesterol in the liver to Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3), an essential cofactor for iron absorption. With increased levels of Vitamin D the expression of proinflammatory cytokines can be significantly diminished, which is critical for COVID-19 recovery. 

Exercise is a key component of a healthy lifestyle when  combined with a plant based diet. The type of exercise you choose can determine how many calories you burn (remember 30mins cycling is not equivalent to 30 mins swimming). Doing this outside can also help you build up Vitamin D levels, preventing the need for supplements.

Chris’s story – A keen sportsman, Chris is no stranger to a daily exercise regime. People who know him well will know he cycles whenever he has time and the weather cooperates.  When he is not on his bike (or at work), he can be found hiking along rivers in search of fish or paddling the lakes with his wife or close friends in the pursuit of health and happiness. Age, time and injury have forced him to change his normal routines.  Whether it is a trip to the gym, the pool or simply a long walk with his wife and dog he continues to focus on exercise as a way to manage stress, anxiety and weight. Signs of aging caused him to approach his doctor with questions about changes he was seeing with his body. His doctor encouraged him to take a break from meat to try a plant based diet, convincing him that ‘it really can’t hurt’ considering it’s ‘free’ medicine. Following his doctor’s suggestion of ‘what do you have to lose?’ Chris says, in hindsight, it was the best health advice he ever received. Despite this great advice, he kept eating at the same rate (well he is a big guy!) without realizing his changes in activities and age did not burn an equivalent amount of calories and he soon started to gain weight. His doctor then suggested small additional changes in his diet that could help him shed excess pounds.  Although he was skeptical at the start, he managed to shed 15lbs in 2months.

Multitalented, Chris grows these chillies* and makes delicious cowboy candy preserves that can be stored for winter or added as supplements to meals. Preserved and pickled vegetables are a great fermented food source, perfect for promoting a healthy microbiome. Remember covid is known to affect the balance of gut microflora.  

When to expect the first positive effects and how to start transitioning to eat plants 

As you transition to being a herbivore one of the first things you notice is an increase in energy and vitality. Gradually,  and this will take a few weeks, the largest organ in your body, the skin, will reduce outbreaks and dryness. For some you will notice a positive difference in the color of the whites of your eyes and texture of your hair and nails. These are all outward indicators of eating a healthy non toxic diet. 

Add these anti-inflammatory prebiotic foods to your diet to extend your immunity to combat new virus variants and even to help you recover from long covid. Read our extensive EAT THIS blogs for access to information on the health benefits and how to grow some of these plants in CEA.

‘New Year’s Resolutions should be daily to have a super life’  Darin Olsen, Author of Super Life. 

So what difference has this made to Chris? He has managed to lose weight, feel healthy and still stay happy with no negative impacts from eating a plant based diet which helps him keep fit and in control of any weight gains. 

It’s important to recognise men and women have different experiences when switching diets to lose weight. 

The answer is to keep it simple. Much of it is about controlling your mind. It’s not always a good idea to measure calories or get fixated on measuring weight although it’s a good idea to see if you are staying on track. Health is initially more important than weight. Food should look good, make you happy when you eat it (not eating for convenience sake) and if you follow that you will become more enthused about eating the rainbow. 

Breakfast and early/mid morning snacks are a great place to start with easy gains. Red color will stimulate your mind to think of nutrition, again another small trick in supplementing what you already eat. Subconsciously you will add more to this everyday and it will become something you look forward to in the morning. 

Eating a handful of blueberries* and redcurrants every morning will not only help you lose weight (they are low in calories) but they are also high in antioxidants and will keep your heart and liver healthy. 

Snacks – keep it simple with pickled peppers* with avocado on sesame Ryvita.

Hydration is most often associated with cool drinks but if you live in a cold country like Scotland during the winter try keeping hydrated with hibiscus* tea as a good substitute.

As growers we are exceptionally lucky to have easy access to some of these amazing health promoting plants as we have the skills to grow them in our farms. We believe you are only one step away from this too if you emulate our advice on growing in CEA and you can then create wonderful meals filled with anti-inflammatory nutrients. 

Pan roasted Lentil Lasagne with Caesar salad and tomatoes is an easy recipe except for cutting rectangular lasagne sheets to fit the pan. Soften them first in water. Soak the green lentils and use them as a direct minced beef replacement. We don’t count calories, just enjoy the pleasure of having this meal once a week. Lentils are rich in fiber, Iron, B vitamins, folate and potassium so the heart health benefits of managing blood pressure and cholesterol outweigh any calorie damage from the cheese sauce. 

Or what about an easier recipe if you are in a hurry and on the go? Try cold smoked salmon flakes, light orzo pasta and Vitamin D fortified eggs. A little drizzle of home made sweet chilli dipping sauce will bring it altogether. Once your taste buds become accustomed to great flavors (no salt required) you will crave great tasting food every day. 

Tomatoes*, cucumber*, onion, salmon, orzo, mushroom* and fortified egg – 5min maximum preparation time.

A recent review in BMJ reveals people eating a plant based or pescatarian diet have a 73-59% lower risk of developing a moderate to severe Covid infection. A number of studies now point towards the advantages of having a plant based diet to protect against SARS-CoV-2 especially for those in high risk groups like diabetics, and those who have heart disease or are overweight. 

It makes sense at this time in history to take personal steps to protect your health. 

Based on our experiences we encourage you to talk to your doctor about a healthy diet but it is also a good idea to speak to a dietician or nutritionist particularly if you need advice to compliment an existing long term health condition. 

Finally if you want more information on the power of plant phytonutrients in the fight against COVID-19 we have it all covered in our COVID article on EAT THIS. 

Janet Colston PhD is pharmacologist with an interest in growing ‘functional’ foods that have additional phytonutrients and display medicinal qualities that are beneficial to human health. She grows these using a range of techniques including plant tissue micropropagation and controlled environmental agriculture to ensure the highest quality control.

You can follow The Functional Plant Company on Instagram. 

More from Janet Colston and Functional Food

Editor’s Note:  Urban Ag News fully understands that many of these crops are not currently grown in greenhouses, hoop houses, high tunnels or vertical farms.  But, that is not as important as the fact that they could be if the consumer and the farmer found equal value in exploring local production.

Cancer touches us all. 

One in two people are expected to have some form of the disease in their lifetime. Despite these statistics it is not inevitable nor the curse it was and many more survive than not thanks to advances in chemotherapy, targeted radiotherapy and most recently immunotherapies like CAR T cell therapy.

We are all individuals so no diagnosis is likely to be exactly the same. Instead we rely on statistics that tell us the likelihood of occurrence or reoccurrence. Thankfully the pathways are being elucidated and for the most part overwhelming evidence suggests the way for us to gain personal control and break the cycle is to follow a plant based diet.

What is Cancer?

Cancer is not a new disease. Around 400 BC Hippocrates used the terms ‘carcinos’ and ‘carcinoma’ to describe non-ulcer forming and ulcer-forming tumours. A century or so later another Roman physician, Galen used the term oncos (Greek for swelling) to describe tumours, that led to the study of cancer, which today we refer to as oncology.

Cancer forms when cells in the body grow out of control because the genetic code is broken. The switch (gene) is disrupted in many different ways and cells then become tricky for the body to manage, avoiding a natural programmed cell death. The variations and stages can be vast which is why we still have very limited individual pharmaceutical treatments tailored to our needs. 

But one thing we do know for sure is that most lifestyle cancers are the result of chronic inflammation which helps establish precancerous cells in the body that enables them to build blood vessel networks (angiogenesis) to supply their own energy allowing them to grow and invade vital organs. 

Is cancer getting more prevalent?

Are we really getting more cancer than previous generations or is it that we can detect more with tests and scans? 

Researchers believe that about two-thirds of the increase is due to us living longer and yes we are able to pick up signs earlier. The rest, they think, is due to changes in cancer rates across different age groups linked to higher risks when people are overweight. Specifically our culture of sunbathing increases the rates of melanoma skin cancer and more generally increased alcohol consumption contributes to higher cancer rates. I will not go into the environmental nor the genetic factors but these also play a small role in increased incidence. 

Is there something we as CEA farmers can do differently from field farmers? 

In my early career I was a cancer researcher, studying pharmacological progression of GI related disease. The last thing on my mind 30 years ago was how what we ate could prevent and in some cases even reverse some of these dangerous cellular changes. Now I think it is a failure in the evolution of medicine to not fully engage in food nutrition before a disease becomes so advanced that no intervention, either pharmaceutical or nutraceutical ceases its progression. 

Discussing cancer still scares people (even me). It’s something that happens to other people until one day it happens to you or your nearest and dearest. Then inevitably you want to understand the processes to prevent this disease taking over. The problem is complex and that’s a fact. I’m not going into detail of the pathways in this article, they are super complicated. But I will describe the plants that have the best antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms to help repair DNA damage and give you the best chance of boosting the immune system to fight lifestyle preventable cancers.

Can eating healthy foods from plants grown in CEA help prevent cancer? 

Given that more than 60% of our anticancer drugs are derived from plant material it makes sense to look at a plant based diet to help us. Growing these plants for their nutraceutical value in CEA is really important as we can eliminate pesticide residue which contributes to inflammation. 

AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE.

Ben Franklin, 1736

Prevention is better than cure so start on a healthy regimen now and you may never be faced with the ‘Big C’. Our previous blogs this year on diabetes and mental health should help your direction when faced with precursor diseases. 

But if you are already on the unfortunate journey then teas and juices can be the easiest way to consume antioxidants if you are on the go and between cancer treatments. If chosen correctly these can create an environment to boost beneficial microflora in the gut, important for dampening inflammation. 

Most if not all these plants can be successfully grown in a controlled environment which can provide locally available fresh options that might not be found at a nearby grocery store.

New root growth formed in one week of aeroponics of a dwarf Pomegranate variety. 

Pomegranate is native to the Middle East, and men from these countries have half the chance of developing prostate cancer than those in the west. In fact, recent studies have shown combined extracts of pomegranate, turmeric, green tea and broccoli significantly reduces prostate specific antigen (a marker for cancer) levels down to almost normal in patients with prostate cancer.

Peaches and nectarines (a smooth peach missing the gene for fuzzy skin) are high in chlorogenic acids. A symbol of long life and immortality, they come from the botanical Rosaceae family and are high in hydroxycinnamic acid (also a bioactive compound in Wasabi leaf stem) with the potential to reduce the incidence of lung, breast, head and neck cancers. Eating peaches has been found to reduce prevalence of metastatic (when it spreads from primary sites) cancer. A study at Texas A&M University demonstrated chlorogenic acid and neochlorogenic acid from peaches  aggressively killed breast cancer cells while leaving normal cells unharmed. 

Cranberry is a natural bog plant and will do well in adapted hydroponic systems. A close relative of Vaccinium  blueberries they produce large berries which we best associate with a turkey Christmas dinner and popular in the US for thanksgiving courtesy of the pilgrim fathers in Massachusetts. Self fertile and low growing, the variety below is Pilgrim. We previously described the anticancer properties of cranberries, strawberries and blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, the latter all regularly grown in CEA. Rich in quercetin, Cranberries have been shown to inhibit lymphoma and breast cancer cells. Cranberry derived constituents may be particularly efficacious inhibitors targeting oral premalignancy. 

Celery is the new super detox food in juicing circles. Celery contains luteolin and apigenin, both  of which reduce inflammation. The authors of an article published in 2009 suggested that luteolin, a blood brain permeable flavonoid may help prevent the spread of cancer cells by making them more susceptible to attack by chemotherapy. 

Celery is a cool season vegetable and ideal for hydroponics as it consists of 95% water and can grow up to 25% faster in CEA. Plus if you wrap the roots up for sales and they don’t sell you can pop them back into NFT later and keep growing. 

Green tea made from the unfermented leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis has immune boosting capabilities. The substance in green tea that researchers think is most helpful is the catechin epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) which boosts the immune system to help fight cancer. In combination with turmeric, EGCG causes significant cancer cell death in a synergistic way. This combination also increases the effectiveness of radiotherapy. 

New Jersey tea (early stage multiplication in tissue culture above) made from Ceanothus Americanus has some interesting effects similar to green tea. If it is good enough to attract Hummingbirds, it must be special! Lymph nodes store infection killing white blood cells and direct them to where they are required when the body detects an abnormality. If the lymphatic system is slow or inflamed as it is when under a cancer attack then these white blood cells can’t do their job correctly. Ceanothus Americanus, also known as red root, stimulates the lymphatic system, supporting detoxification of the spleen and liver during chemotherapy.  

Redcurrants (main image) are a very good source of resveratrol which has been shown to increase the cytotoxic effects of radiation treatment and the chemotherapy drugs Adriamycin and Taxol used for breast cancer. Resveratrol can inhibit aromatase (the synthesis of estrogen from androgens within the body) important in reducing the growth of estrogen positive breast cancers.

Black Goji berries multiplying in tissue culture. Researchers showed active compounds in both black and red goji berries are highly effective in killing breast cancer cells. These berries also have high levels of zeaxanthin which is thought to help stem cell organ regeneration.

Soya bean plantlets initiated in hydroponics before field transfer.

Hormone dependent breast and prostate cancers are highly prevalent in the west but very uncommon in Asian countries. It is thought the cumulative effect of a life long diet of phytoestrogens is the key difference. Fresh soya beans (Edamame) contain active polyphenol isoflavones (soy sauce does not count as the isoflavones are broken down during fermentation). These include the phytoestrogen genistein, structurally very similar to oestrogen that has been shown to have cancer blocking effects. These effects are not just limited to breast cancers but will also block androgen related prostate cancer changes.

Recent controversy over soya consumption has been inconclusive. Concerns arose over the estrogen activity of isoflavones after animal studies showed an increase in breast cancer. Although one clinical study did show cancer promoting genes could be switched on after eating soya it is thought the protective effect of long term moderate consumption outweighs any increased cancer risk. But if you are unsure, speak to your doctor about adding phytoestrogens to your diet pre and post menopause. The American Cancer Society recommends natural soya foods as safe and healthy but they suggest you avoid soy supplements as they contain much higher isoflavone concentrations. 

Good Sugar Versus Bad Sugar, is it true?

We think of sugar as the food stuff that elevates blood glucose leading to diabetes and contributing to obesity as well as blocking our arteries causing plaques and coronary heart disease. REMEMBER ALL CELLS NEED GLUCOSE TO FUNCTION. The idea that sugar could directly fuel the growth of cancer cells can lead some people to avoid all carbohydrates. But it is counter-productive for anyone struggling to maintain their weight while dealing with the side effects of cancer treatment and can actually create more stress trying to avoid sugar altogether. Stress caused by worrying about eating the wrong foods will turn on the fight or flight mechanism, increasing the production of hormones that can raise blood sugar levels and suppress immune function, in turn reducing any possible benefit of eliminating sugar in the first place. 

But sugars are not equal and reducing highly processed sugars (sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, or other sweeteners that increase glycemic index) and eating good sugars from whole plant foods helps stabilise blood glucose levels. 

‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ is a true proverb. 

Young apple trees efficiently grown under LED lights in a controlled environment means the plants can be accelerated to the field faster than traditional methods. Cornell researchers have identified a dozen triterpenoids in apple peel that either inhibit or kill cancer cells in laboratory cultures. They found several of these compounds have potent anti-proliferative activities against human liver, colon and breast cancer cells.

The superfood turmeric was hailed as a cancer busting superfood in the last decade. Turmeric is a mainstay of Ayurvedic medicine and it is the active compound curcumin which makes up 5% of the dry root weight. Curcumin blocks the growth of a large number of tumours including colon, breast and ovarian cancers as well as leukaemia. It also prevents the formation of new blood vessels by angiogenesis. Further trials are underway to test effectiveness in pancreatic cancer and melanoma, both on the rise in western societies. A combination of curcumin with quercetin (found in many citrus fruits) can decrease precancerous polyps of the colon by 60%. Turmeric is well adapted to hot climates and does grow particularly well in flood and drain hydroponics. 

The use of cannabinoids is still somewhat complicated as the pathways are highly complex and physiological actions of so many terpene derivatives need further scientific review. However cannabinoids are a very useful line of defence in pain management during cancer treatment. I urge caution that self medication can lead to downregulation of receptors that are essential for other important physiological processes. So if your oncologist recommends CBD it should be highly controlled.

Lycopene is a cancer-fighting food associated with protection against certain cancers such as prostate, kidney, breast and lung cancer. Lycopene is much higher in the wild original species lycopersicon pimpinellifolium, native to Ecuador and Peru. This species is highly salt and stress tolerant. Breeding of new characteristics has the potential to increase palatable flavours with species crosses that display additional environmental and medicinal benefits.

Lycopene accumulates in our skin to protect against melanoma. It’s important to cook tomatoes with olive oil, as this will release even more lycopene and increase bioavailability. This is why the Mediterranean diet is so revered. Two Passata based meals a week can lower the risk of prostate cancer by a third.

Resveratrol is produced by black grapes as a defence mechanism against environmental stress, insect and fungal attack. Like black and red currants, resveratrol is found in the skin and seeds of red grape varieties which is why some have suggested that moderate consumption of red wine is good for you. But it’s a complex paradoxical picture. Although some studies in animals suggested red wine (due to the resveratrol content) could potentially reduce the incidence of lung and colon cancer, others say red wine (due to the alcohol content) can actually increase cancer risks. 

What we do know for sure is that resveratrol is well absorbed in the body and offers some exciting anticancer properties. Probably best to consume through black grape juice if you are concerned about the alcohol content in wine. Growing grapes in a controlled environment can help boost field yields and breeding can increase resistance to fungal diseases like mildew and botrytis when exposed to the elements like above in California.

Sulforaphane containing vegetables have huge potential to improve human health and prevent cancer 

Cruciferous vegetables contain a special phytonutrient called sulforaphane shown to have wide ranging anti-cancer activity acting as very potent antioxidants which essentially induce tumour arrest and cell death. Promising in vitro cancer studies of sulforaphane and other long chain isothiocyanates are known to have significant chemoprotective effects on prostate, breast, colorectal, lung, bladder, glioblastoma and  blood cancers. 

The cruciferous family includes cauliflower, kale, cabbage, pak choi, broccoli, brussel sprouts, watercress, mustard, horseradish and wasabi. 

The cruciferae are amongst the easiest to grow vegetables in CEA with the most accessible health promoting phytonutrients observed in any plant which make them an attractive proposition for farmers. 

We are slightly biased but wasabi  is in a league of its own as a superpower in terms of anti-cancer properties, sparking interest with hundreds of peer reviewed scientific studies over the last two decades. It has been shown to kill cancer cells of any cancer tested. Check out our exclusive article on Wasabi for all the links. 

Myrosinase, the essential enzyme required to form these bioactives compounds, can be inactivated by heat, so steaming may retain phytonutrients for longer. If you can eat these vegetables raw or in a smoothie, you will gain all the nutritional benefits. But remember the bioactives in wasabi are only available for 10-15 mins after grinding so it must be eaten fresh.

Only three or four servings of brassicas weekly can reduce the chances of developing cancer. Broccoli contains one of the highest sources of glucosinolate so it is no surprise that broccoli metabolites have been commercialised as health food supplements to support GI health. Interestingly, three day old sprouts of some cruciferous vegetables contain 10-100 times higher concentrations of glucoraphanin. So microgreens popular in many vertical farms are perfect for boosting your immune system against all kinds of precancerous and cancer cell formation.

Watercress grown in gel. A new study has reported that long chain isothiocyanates (PEITC) in watercress inhibit growth and progression of HER2+ breast cancer by targeting breast cancer stem cells. 

Moringa is the Superfood cousin of Cruciferae

Moringa Oleifera, known as the horseradish tree in Africa is a relative of cruciferae and is a fast growing tree that reaches full maturity in less than a year. Moringa is one of the most nutrient dense plants on earth and owing to an extra rhamnose sugar moiety it retains very high levels of a stable and unique ITC shown to significantly reduce inflammation with significant anticancer activity. Other health benefits include significant Vitamin A levels boosting iron metabolism to combat fatigue. It does have a bitter spicy taste like many of the crucifers but is easily mixed with more powerful flavours to mask the taste.

Growing these plants in CEA

We already described CEA growing methods for berries, greens, tomatoes, wasabi, turmeric and many more in our previous EAT THIS series of articles. Start with kale and pak choi varieties which are commonly grown in hydroponic systems and can be an entry point for new growers as they are very easy to grow. 

Pak Choi in hydroponics, Lufa farms 

They adapt well to both deep water culture and NFT allowing production in 6 weeks that can be cut several times promoting multiple harvests. Kale tends to have a wide pH range 6-7.5 and EC 1.8-3.0. These crops are a great choice, being compatible with herbs and greens and are cold hardy to 45-85^°F which can extend the growing season. In fact, cooling kale to 40^°F can also enhance the flavour. Pak choi requires a tighter pH range  5.5-6.5 and absorbs nutrients between EC 1.5-2.5. These plants don’t specifically require supplemental lighting but it may benefit quicker production extending through the winter shoulder months, critical for farm profits. 

Although some consider wasabi the ‘hardest to grow’ vegetable in the world, we believe knowledge, experience and trials can lead to successful outcomes and large scale production in CEA. Reach out if you need our consultancy to get started. 

What makes CEA grown produce stand out from organic or field grown?

Although there is no conclusive evidence that field crops sprayed with pesticides or GMO crops themselves lead to increased cancer rates, avoiding pesticides is a sensible precaution to retain healthy cells. Pesticides and fungicides are unrecognised by the body and can increase inflammation. Farmers use them to control weeds and diseases to maximise crop yields but in CEA their use is not essential. Beneficial insects are more likely to be employed to eliminate pests and environment control helps prevent moulds and fungal infections. 

Eating well during chemotherapy 

Personally, if I was worried about cancer, regardless of what area of the body and cancer type or stage I had concerns over, I would 100% increase my consumption of fresh fruits, berries and vegetables, in a raw juicing regimen with the best quality plants I could buy or grow in CEA. 

There are so many things that happen during chemotherapy that can take you by surprise. The first is appetite suppression. While undergoing treatment it may not be the best time to become crazy experimental (many people do) with foods that you are not used to in your diet. It can also be difficult to keep the calories up which is why oncologists will generally prescribe steroids as they increase appetite and reduce inflammation as well as making chemotherapy more effective. So making healthy balanced food choices and reducing stress will prepare your body in the best way to receive treatment for your cancer.

Chemotherapy will immunocompromise the body but it’s temporary so stick with it. 

We discussed in our last article how some of the most powerful and highly efficient chemotherapies are derived from plants. Essentially they are ‘industrial strength antibiotics’ that search out tumour cells and destroy them. So chemotherapy is not something to be feared. It should be used in tandem with a healthy diet. Antiemetics are usually prescribed alongside IV chemotherapy to prevent nausea. The last thing you want is for the chemo to be ejected and not have time to do its job. There is increasing evidence that drinking green teas can reduce cancer related nausea. 

Side effects during chemotherapy

Whilst we talk about the positive anti-inflammatory effects of these foods, during chemotherapy it is vital to be drinking a minimum of 2 pints of water a day to clear the drugs from the liver and prevent toxicity. Fatigue is a common side effect as red blood cell count is diminished so there is less oxygen transfer to the muscles which makes you tired. It’s important to maintain good electrolyte balance and eating the right foods will help. Keeping a daily chart can help you monitor any drops in appetite and will make it easy to see patterns. 

Mouth ulcers are an extremely common side effect during chemotherapy and this can prevent you eating well when you most need to. Toothpaste can be harsh with rubbing causing more inflammation and chlorhexidine on sponge sticks can stain your teeth. It might seem unnecessary but if your mouth is sore and you feel sick, eating well can become an issue.

Chewing fresh wasabi leaves will gently cleanse the mouth and kill any bacteria that causes dental caries. Yes there can be a little nip but it’s very light in the leaves and is reassuring as you know the chemical reaction to create bioactive isothiocyanates is working. Red Root may also  provide antibacterial effects to protect against gum bleeding following gingivitis. NJ tea tree bark and lavender can be useful as a skin wash for sores. 

Final word about stress and how this contributes to cancer 

The major cause of death from cancer is metastasis that is resistant to conventional therapy. We know that post pandemic there will be even more people diagnosed with cancer and at late stages where treatment becomes harder. We hope this blog helps you and your support network to find positive ways to help your body through the process. Keeping a positive outlook is important for your mental state, as chronic stress reduces killer T cells in the body that seek out and kill cancer cells. So keep stress at bay, listen to your doctors and try to remain in a good happy state. There is resounding evidence that those with good loving social networks have better long term outcomes. 

Disclaimer: We are not advocating this information in preference to medical advice, remember if you have serious illness and suspect symptoms of cancer are present please seek advice from your general practitioner. Our blogs are designed for people looking for advice on plants that have additional phytonutrients that can help repair and replenish your body and boost the immune system. We advise you to stay within peer reviewed research and CDC guidance. 

Unless otherwise stated all images are courtesy of The Functional Plant Company and property of Urban Ag News. 

Janet Colston PhD is pharmacologist with an interest in growing ‘functional’ foods that have additional phytonutrients and display medicinal qualities that are beneficial to human health. She grows these using a range of techniques including plant tissue micropropagation and controlled environmental agriculture to ensure the highest quality control.

You can follow The Functional Plant Company on Instagram.