Lumination Incorporation
Elevate Vitamin C Content
Production of Vitamin C in Plants
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Plants generally produce vitamins from complex biosynthetic pathways. For example, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) is produced from glucose, which is converted to ascorbate through a complex enzymatic pathway as illustrated on the left. The ascorbate, which is oxidised ascorbic acid, produced from this pathway then accumulates in fruits, making them a rich source of vitamins.
Image 1: How Ascorbate is produced in plants.
Effects of Light on Vitamin C Production
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Vitamin C is found in many plants and is produced in larger amounts when the plant is exposed to more sunlight. Intense sunlight produces oxygen free radicals, also called Reactive Oxidative Species (ROS), from ozone molecules. These radicals damages the plant's metabolic processes and compromises its ability to defend itself, which eventually result in damage to the cell's lipid membrane as shown in the process below.
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Image 2: The chain reaction when an unsaturated membrane lipid in a plant cells reacts with a hydroxide free radical, a type of ROS.
Ascorbic acid, the scientific name for Vitamin C, is a strong antioxidant that is easily oxidized, as it loses electrons to form Ascorbate and Dehydroascorbate. This process is shown in the image below.
Image 3: The chain reaction caused when Ascorbic Acid is oxidised and becomes a free radical.
Plants produce more Vitamin C when they are exposed to intense light because its antioxidative properties helps protect their cell membranes from oxidative damage caused by the ROS. Vitamin C does so by donating electrons to the lipid peroxide free radical in Image 2 and reverting it back to an unsaturated lipid. In addition, plants would also produce more Vitamin C under ultraviolet light as ultraviolet light catalyses the formation of ROS as shown below. To counter the harmful effects caused by the ROS, plants would hence produce more Vitamin C, which would result in a greater amount of Vitamin C in the plant.
Image 4: Photodissosciation of ozone under intense light and/or ultraviolet light to form oxygen and an oxygen radical
Impacts and Applications
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If our crops had a higher concentration of Vitamin C in them, people who consume them would have a lower chance of developing many chronic diseases, and hence be able to lead healthier lives. With this health benefit, many people would also be incentivised to purchase local produce to consume, allowing local produce to constitute a greater proportion of the country's nutritional needs
Image References
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