Plant treatment method and means therefor
OwnerLionel Scottinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of altering the level of at least one phytochemical in a harvested plant cell comprising chlorophyll or in harvested plant tissue comprising chlorophyll, the plant cell or tissue being capable of photosynthesis and/or being capable of blue light adsorption by shining blue light onto the surface of the plant cell or tissue, wherein the light intensity of the blue light striking the cell surface or the tissue surface is sufficient to initiate a biochemical process within the cell or tissue thereby altering the level of at least one phytochemical therein.
Claims30
A method of altering the level of at least one phytochemical in a harvested plant cell or in harvested plant tissue comprising:
- providing one of a harvested plant cell comprising chlorophyll and a harvested plant tissue comprising chlorophyll, the provided cell or tissue being capable of photosynthesis;
- setting an ambient temperature of the provided cell or tissue to a temperature in the range of −0.5 degrees centigrade to 18 degrees centigrade;
- exposing a surface of the provided cell or tissue for irradiation by light;
- irradiating the exposed surface by shining blue light from an artificial source thereof onto the exposed surface while maintaining the set ambient temperature;
- and
- setting the intensity of the said light striking the exposed surface so as to influence oxygen evolution at the photosystem II reaction centre of the provided cell or tissue and thereby initiate in the cell or tissue a biochemical process causing alteration of the level of said at least one phytochemical in the cell or tissue.
A method according to 4, wherein the red light is of a wavelength that lies in the range of from 600 nm-700 nm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.