High Temperature Pre-Treatment Induces Favorable Effects of The Low Temperature Treatment to Roots of Vegetables

Abstract

The low temperature in root environment causes depression in root water absorption. The depressed water absorption induces water deficit and can trigger the plant adaptive functions such as osmoregulation and antioxidation. These adaptive functions of plants can be expected to produce high quality vegetables that may be enriched in the healthful subtances such as sugars and antioxidants. Previous studies showed that high quality vegetable rich in sugar was produced by applying the low temperature stress to roots during a long term in soilless culture, but the plant growth was excessively depressed. In this study, we examined the high temperature pre-treatment to introduce favorable effect of the low temperature stress for soilless culture of spinach.