Response of an eggplant crop grown under Mediterranean summer conditions to greenhouse fog cooling

dc.contributor.author	Katsoulas, N	en
dc.contributor.author	Savvas, D	en
dc.contributor.author	Tsirogiannis, I	en
dc.contributor.author	Merkouris, O	en
dc.contributor.author	Kittas, C	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-06-06T06:49:31Z
dc.date.available	2014-06-06T06:49:31Z
dc.date.issued	2009	en
dc.identifier.issn	03044238	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2009.08.004	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://62.217.125.90/xmlui/handle/123456789/4643
dc.subject	Crop transpiration	en
dc.subject	Fog system	en
dc.subject	Fruit temperature	en
dc.subject	Water consumption	en
dc.subject.other	acidity	en
dc.subject.other	aerodynamics	en
dc.subject.other	air temperature	en
dc.subject.other	coastal zone	en
dc.subject.other	cryobiology	en
dc.subject.other	fog	en
dc.subject.other	greenhouse ecosystem	en
dc.subject.other	marketing	en
dc.subject.other	Mediterranean environment	en
dc.subject.other	microclimate	en
dc.subject.other	perennial plant	en
dc.subject.other	relative humidity	en
dc.subject.other	solubility	en
dc.subject.other	stomatal conductance	en
dc.subject.other	vapor pressure	en
dc.subject.other	water uptake	en
dc.subject.other	Solanum melongena	en
dc.title	Response of an eggplant crop grown under Mediterranean summer conditions to greenhouse fog cooling	en
heal.type	journalArticle	en
heal.identifier.primary	10.1016/j.scienta.2009.08.004	en
heal.publicationDate	2009	en
heal.abstract	The effects of greenhouse cooling using a high-pressure fog system on greenhouse microclimate and on eggplant (Solanum melongena) crop response were studied at the coastal area of western Greece. Measurements were carried out in two distinct greenhouse compartments involving: (1) no air humidity control and (2) a fog system operating in order to obtain a greenhouse air relative humidity of 80%. Fog cooling reduced mean fruit temperature by about 3 °C and maintained greenhouse air temperature below 32 °C, while maximum temperature without cooling reached 40 °C. Furthermore, fogging reduced air vapor pressure deficit by about 55% and increased crop stomatal conductance by about 73%. These changes, in combination with alterations in crop aerodynamic conductance, resulted in around 31% decrease of crop transpiration rate. Fog system cooling efficiency was relatively low (46%) resulting in relatively high water consumption for fog cooling, reaching an equivalent to about 60% of crop water uptake. Nevertheless, since fog cooling decreased crop water needs, total greenhouse water consumption with fog cooling was only 19% higher than with no air humidity control. These results indicate the need to increase the cooling efficiency of fog systems in order to reduce greenhouse water consumption. Furthermore, the fog system enhanced mean fruit weight and marketable fruits, but appreciably reduced total fruit number per plant. Finally, fog cooling did not affect fruit quality characteristics such as fruit resistance to penetration, skin colour, fruit titratable acidity and total soluble solids. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.	en
heal.journalName	Scientia Horticulturae	en
dc.identifier.issue	1	en
dc.identifier.volume	123	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1016/j.scienta.2009.08.004	en
dc.identifier.spage	90	en
dc.identifier.epage	98	en