• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.361-367
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• 2017

Production cost as well as environmental contamination can be reduced by reuse of drained nutrient solution in hydroponic. This research was conducted to obtain the information in changes in inorganic elements concentration of supplied and drained nutrient solution as well as of plant leaves. To achieve the objective, the samples of supplied and drained solution and cherry tomato leaf tissues were periodically collected and analyzed during the hydroponic cultivation. The electrical conductivity (EC) of supplied and drained nutrient solution in early growth stage of cherry tomato were measured as around $2.0dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$, but those values move up with the passage of time reaching to $2.0dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ at flowering stage of 9th fruiting node. The pHs of drained solution in early growth stage were 6.4 to 6.7, however those showed a tendency to get lowered to 5.9 to 6.1 as time passed during the crop cultivation. The concentration differences of $NO_3-N$, P, K, Ca, and Mg between supplied and drained solution were not distinctive until flowering stages of 4th fruiting nodes, while those in drained solution moved up after the stage. The tissue N contents of leaves decrease gradually and those of K and Ca increased as crops grew. However, Tissue P and Mg contents were maintained similarly from transplant to end-crop. The above results would be used in correction of drained nutrient solution when element compositions are varied compared to supplied solution in hydroponic cultivation of tomatoes.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.149-154
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• 2005

It is very important to make shorter and healthier pot plants with increased numbers of branch at a growing stage before short-day exposure. Especially light and nutrient conditions directly affect the growth and quality of the plants as described above. In this study, the effects of nutrient strength and light intensity on the nutrient uptake and growth of young Kalanchoe plants (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana 'Marlene') during this growth stage were investigated. The plants were grown under two radiation integral (15.8 and 7.9 $mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}d^{-1}$, PPF) and three EC (0.8, 1.6 and 2.4 $dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$) conditions. Leaf area, fresh weight, dry weight and number of branch were higher at a higher PPF, and this tendency was more evident at an EC above 1.6$dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$. The plants became higher at a lower PPF. When the EC was at 0.8 $dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$, the plants did not grow so healthy regardless of PPF conditions. EC decrement in the nutrient solution was increased with increase of nutrient strength. With growth stage, the nutrient uptake was increased with increases of nutrient strength and PPF. At a higher PPF, $NO_3-N,\;K^{+}\;and\;Ca^{2+}$ were much more absorbed, and especially the uptake of $K^{+}$ was 1.1 to 1.5 times greater than that or $NO_3-N$. From the results, the EC needed above 1.6 $dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ during the seedling stage in order to make more healthy Kalanchoe plants having more leaf area, fresh weight, dry weight and number of branches under adequate light conditions.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.229-237
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• 2009

This study was conducted to compare the quality of the pork from finishing pigs that were fed diets containing different levels of methyl sulfonyl methane (MSM). A total of 135 crossbred pigs $(Landrace{\times}Yorkshire{\times}Duroc)$ were fed either with a control commercial diet or the control diet supplemented with 300- and 500-ppm MSM for 158d. The pigs were slaughtered at approximately 110kg live weight and were transported to the local slaughterhouse for electrical stunning followed by exsanguination. After the slaughter, the pork muscles were dissected from each carcass, placed in wrap package bags, and stored for 8d at $4^{\circ}C$. The TEARS values of the pigs that were fed MSM diets were significantly lower (p<0.05) compared with those of the pigs that were fed with non-supplemented diets. The Na, Mg, and Ca contents of the dietary MSM were significantly lower (p<0.05) than those of the non-supplemented diets, but the Fe, Cu, and Zn contents of the dietary MSM were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of the non-supplemented diets, and the increased level of MSM supplementation resulted in higher sulfur contents. There was no difference among the diets in terms of amino acid content. The dietary supplementation with MSM, however, led to increased saturated fatty acid and decreased unsaturated fatty acid (%) in the pork muscles (p<0.05). The sensory panelists recorded greater marbling and overall acceptability scores in the samples with 500-ppm-MSM dietary supplementation (p<0.05). These data suggest that supplementing pig diets with MSM can improve the quality of the pork and can enhance the eating quality because the sensory panels found that the pork from pigs that were fed an MSM-supplemented diet had better sensory characteristics.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.871-877
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• 2016

Recycling nutrient solutions in closed hydroponic production systems is usually accompanied by an imbalance of nutrient solutions when concentration is controlled according to electrical conductivity (EC) levels. This study investigated whether it was possible to automatically control the concentrations of five essential elements nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) using only N, K and Ca ion sensors. N, P, K, Ca, and Mg uptake was measured in the nutrient solution, and relationships between absorbed ions were analyzed through twice-repeated experiments in lettuce. Results confirmed that the pattern of $PO_4$ ion uptake was similar that of N, and the pattern of Mg ion uptake was similar that of Ca. $PO_4$ ion uptake was most highly correlated with N, and Mg was most highly correlated with Ca. Regression coefficients of N and $PO_4$ were significantly different at 1.04 and 0.55, respectively, but were similar between Ca and Mg at 0.35 and 0.40, respectively. Additional experiments were conducted to measure nutrient uptake in pak choi and rose plants, both to confirm the results from the first experiment in lettuce, and to assess possible application to other crops. Coefficients of determination both for N and $PO_4$, and Ca and Mg were considerably high ($R^2=0.86$) in cultured pak choi, and similar results were observed in cultured rose ($R^2=0.87$ and 0.73, respectively). Regression coefficients for cultured pak choi were 0.56 and 0.24, respectively, and for rose were 0.51 and 0.16, respectively. Although the results obtained for N and $PO_4$ were not consistent between the lettuce experiments, N and $PO_4$ have similar regression coefficients for all crops. No common coefficient was found between Ca and Mg.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.362-371
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• 2012

Objective of this research was to secure the information on physical and chemical properties of peatmoss and coir dust. To achieve this, 6 kinds of peatmoss and 10 kinds of coir dust currently used in the country as the root medium components in plant factories were collected and analysed. The mean ${\pm}$ standard deviation (SD) of total porosity and container capacity in peatmoss and coir dust were $79.6{\pm}5.04$ and $83.6{\pm}6.18%$, and $69.9{\pm}10.17$ and $65.9{\pm}3.46%$, respectively. These indicate that peatmoss has higher water holding capacity than coir dust and the characteristics are highly varied among peatmoss. The 4 out of 5 kinds of peatmoss had lower than 10%, but coir dust had 12~26%, of air-filled porosity. The percentage of easily available water and buffering water in peatmoss and coir dust was 18~22 and 11~16% and 9~13 and 5.5~7.5%, respectively. These results indicate that precise irrigation is required when coir dust is used as the root medium. The ranges of pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were 3.46~4.17 and $0.137{\sim}0.253dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ in peatmoss and 5.31~6.48 and $0.250{\sim}0.1.580dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ in coir dust. However, $0.563{\pm}0.83dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ in mean ${\pm}$SD of coir dust EC indicates that it is higher than that of peatmoss, and the coir dust are highly varied in EC. The cation exchange capacity of peatmoss was 3 to 4 times as high as that of coir dust. The coir dust had higher $NO_3$ and $PO_4$ and lower $NH_4$ than peatmoss. The K and Na concentrations in coir dust were extremely high indicating that these ions caused the rising in EC. The percentage of hot water and alkali extracts of peatmoss were 6.67~16.37 and 0~38%, whereas those of coir dust were 30.0~65.1 and 23.1~70.3%. These results mean that possible existence of growth inhibiting materials in coir dust.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.336-342
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• 2012

Inorganic materials were commonly used as container media in domestic plant factories. Objective of this research was to secure the information in soil physical and chemical properties of inorganic materials such as vermiculites and perlites. To achieve this, 12 gold and silver vermiculites from China, Zimbabwe, and South Africa and 5 perlites from China were collected based on the marketing grades (MG) in particle sizes and analyzed for determination of their characteristics. The percentage of particles larger than $710{\mu}m$, in China perlite MG 3~5 mm, China silver vermiculites MG > 8 mm and MG 3~8 mm were 99.9%, 99.8%, and 99.7%, respectively, which were much higher than 28.4% in China gold vermiculite MG 0.3~1.0 mm, 14.0% in perlite MG < 1.0 mm, and 12.6% of Zimbabwe silver vermiculite MG < 1.0 mm. The container capacities of perlite MG < 1.0 mm and South Africa silver vermiculite MG 0.25~1.0 mm were 72.0% and 71.1%, respectively. The air space in China silver vermiculite MG 3~8 mm was 49.3% which was higher than other materials tested. However, the China gold and silver vermiculites MG 0.3~1 mm had 3.5% and 2.4% in air space indicating that possible problems could occur in soil aeration when they are used for container media. The percentage of easily available and buffering water of China gold vermiculite MG 0.3~1 mm and perlite MG < 1.0 mm were the highest among test materials. The ranges of pH and electrical conductivity were 6.36 to 10.7 and 0.032 to $0.393dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ in vermiculites and 7.78 to 8.62 and 0.030 to $0.041dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ in perlite, respectively. The cation exchange capacity of China silver vermiculite MG 0.3~1 mm were $14.7cmol{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ that was 10 times as high as $0.34cmol{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ in perlite MG 1~2.5 mm. The vermiculites had the higher contents of exchangeable cations such as Ca, K, and Na, than those of perlites.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.411-418
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of calcinated calcium (CC) alone or combination with heat treatment on storage quality and microbial growth in fresh-cut broccoli. Fresh broccoli samples were cut into small pieces and washed in normal tap water (TW), $50{\mu}L{\cdot}L^{-1}$ chlorinated water (pH 6.5), $1.5g{\cdot}L^{-1}$ CC, heat treatment in TW at $45^{\circ}C$, and CC dissolved in TW at $45^{\circ}C$ for 2 minutes separately. Samples were then packaged in $50{\mu}m$ polyethylene bags and stored at $5^{\circ}C$. Results revealed that like $50{\mu}L{\cdot}L^{-1}$ chlorine, washing in CC at normal water temperature was effective in reducing microbial population in fresh-cut broccoli samples. Washing with CC combined with heat treatment increased an electrical conductivity of fresh-cut broccoli. Combined heat treatments with TW and CC reduced aerobic plate count on fresh-cut broccoli, only in initial period of storage. But, later on heat treatment induced injury of fresh-cut broccoli resulting more microbial population compared to non heat treatment. However, samples treated with CC alone had good quality with low off-odor at the end of storage. Results suggest that CC, an environment-friendly sanitizer could be an alternative to chlorinated water for washing of fresh-cut broccoli without affecting sensorial quality.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.305-311
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• 2012

To investigate the influence electrical conductivity (EC) of nutrient solution and light intensity on growth of red leafy lettuce, fresh and dry weights, number of leave, chlorophyll concentration and production efficiency were evaluated through nutrient film technique system. The levels of EC were 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, and $6.0dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$, and those of light intensity were 120, 150, and $180{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$. Under photoperiod of 16 h/day, the temperature was maintained in the range of $20{\sim}25^{\circ}C$. Planting density was $10{\times}10cm$ (100 plants/$m^2$). When red leafy lettuce were grown in the EC range of $0.5{\sim}1.5dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$, the fresh and dry weights decreased as the EC levels and light intensity were lowered, however, Hunter's a value showed no significant differences among the treatments of EC and light intensity levels (Ex. 1). The fresh and dry weights and production efficiency ($g{\cdot}FW/kw$) were the highest in the treatment of $3.0dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ and $180{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ when crops were grown under the EC range of EC $1.5{\sim}6.0dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ (Ex. 2). But the fresh and dry weights, number of leaves, and production efficiency of $2.0dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ were the highest when the light intensity was $180{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ (Ex. 3). The SPAD value increased gradually as EC levels were elevated. From the above results, we concluded that optimum levels of EC and light intensity were $2.0dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ and $180{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$, respectively, for production as well as production efficiency of red leaf lettuce in plant factory.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2011

Individual ion concentrations and ionic contributions to EC reading in the circulated nutrient solution are the important factors to be considered for stable EC-based closed-loop soilless culture. This study was conducted to determine appropriate ion-analysis intervals of the circulated nutrient solutions based on ion concentration, ion balance, and ion electrical conductivity under different renewal intervals in EC-based nutrient control systems for sweet peppers (Capsicum annum L. 'Fiesta') in early growth stage. Average node numbers of the plants were 13 and 18 when the experiment started and finished, respectively, and three plants were grown in each rockwool slab. Four different renewal intervals of circulated nutrient solutions such as 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks were used as treatment. Nutrient solutions were supplied to the plants based on integrated radiation. Drainage was collected into drain tanks after irrigation ended in the day and then mixed with fresh water until the EC reaches 2.69 $dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$. The replenished nutrient solution was supplied to the plants in the next day. Ion concentrations of the individual ions periodically analyzed in the circulated nutrient solutions showed no significant differences among the treatments during the experimental period. Ion concentrations of $K^+$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Na^+$, $NO_3{^-}$, ${SO_4}^{2-}$, ${PO_4}^{3-}$, and $Cl^-$ varied within 5-8, 11-14, 2.0-2.7, 0.5-0.6, 14-19, 4-5, 1-4, and 0.3-0.5 $meq{\cdot}L^{-1}$, respectively. Ion balance showed a consistent tendency over all the treatments and especially $K^+$ : $Ca^{2+}$ and ${SO_4}^{2-}$ : ${PO_4}^{3-}$ played great roles in the cation and anion balances in the nutrient solutions, respectively. Activity coefficients of ions such as $K^+$, $NO_3{^-}$, and $H_2PO_4{^-}$ varied within 0.8-0.9 and those of $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, ${SO_4}^{2-}$ varied within 0.5-0.6, showing little changes with time. Ionic contributions of $K^+$ and $NO_3{^-}$ to EC reading were the greatest followed by $Ca^{2+}$, ${SO_4}^{2-}$, and $Mg^{2+}$ in the order. From the results, we thought that allowable ranges in ion concentration, ion balance, and subsequent individual ionic contributions to EC reading would be obtained within 4-week renewal interval of nutrient solution in EC-based closed-loop soilless culture for sweet pepper plants.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2021

This study was conducted to examine the changes of photosynthesis, growth, chlorophyll contents and functional material contents in light intensity and EC concentration of wild baby leaf vegetable, Indian lettuce (Lactuca indica L. cv. 'Sunhyang') in DFT hydroponics. The cultivation environment was 25±1℃ of temperature and 60±5% of relative humidity in growth system. At 14 days after sowing, combination effect of light intensity (Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD 100, 250, 500 µmol·m-2·s-1) and EC level (EC 0.8, 1.4, 2.0 dS·m-1) of nutrient solution was determined at the baby leaf stage. The photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and water use efficiency of Indian lettuce increased as the light intensity increased. The photosynthesis rate and water use efficiency were highest in PPFD 500-EC 1.4 and PPFD 500-EC 2.0 treatment. The chlorophyll content decreased as the light intensity increased, but chlorophyll a/b ratio increased. Leaf water content and specific leaf area decreased as light intensity increased and a negative correlation (p < 0.001) was recognized. Plant height was the longest in PPFD 100-EC 0.8 and leaf number, fresh weight and dry weight were the highest in PPFD 500-EC 2.0. Anthocyanin and total phenolic compounds were the highest in PPFD 500-EC 1.4 and 2.0 treatment, and antioxidant scavenging ability (DPPH) was high in PPFD 250 and 500 treatments. Considering the growth and functional material contents, the proper light intensity and EC level for hydroponic cultivation of Indian lettuce is PPFD 500-EC 2.0, and PPFD 100 and 250, which are low light conditions, EC 0.8 is suitable for growth.