{"id":655,"date":"2010-03-05T02:52:16","date_gmt":"2010-03-05T02:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/?p=655"},"modified":"2010-03-05T02:52:41","modified_gmt":"2010-03-05T02:52:41","slug":"fluorescent-supermarket-lighting-leaves-spinach-more-nutritious-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/2010\/03\/05\/fluorescent-supermarket-lighting-leaves-spinach-more-nutritious-than-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Fluorescent supermarket lighting leaves spinach more nutritious than ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Spinach on display under 24-hour light in supermarkets actually gains in content of some nutrients. (Marc Villalobos, USDA-ARS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

by Allison Younkins<\/p>\n

Healthier spinach, just add light<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spinach, or Spinacia oleracea<\/em><\/a>, is one of the most nutritious vegetables found in the grocery store.\u00a0 Normally packaged in a clear plastic container, most spinach leaves are exposed to fluorescent supermarket lights for up to 24 hours a day.\u00a0 Surprisingly, a study published in March in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry<\/em> shows that the light exposure boosts the vegetable\u2019s nutritional content to astonishing levels.\u00a0 Scientists at the Kika de la Garza Subtropical Agricultural Research Center and the Atlantic Food and Horticulture Research Centre conducted an experiment to test the affect of lighting on the nutritional value of spinach.\u00a0 They exposed spinach to either continuous light or darkness while under simulated supermarket storage conditions for up to 9 days.\u00a0 Even spinach leaves exposed to the fluorescent lighting for only three days showed significant increases in important vitamins and antioxidants.\u00a0 The leaves exposed to nine days of light had increased folate levels by 84-100% and levels of vitamin K between 50-100%.\u00a0 Even further, the group exposed to no light had declining nutritional values.<\/p>\n

How light contributes to nutrition: the connection<\/strong><\/p>\n

The main researcher on this project, Gene Lester of the USDA Agricultural Research Service, explains how supermarket lighting can contribute to vitamin and mineral levels within the leaves of this powerhouse plant.\u00a0 Lester clarifies that although a leaf has been detached from the original plant, it can still undergo the process of photosynthesis.\u00a0 The lighting in supermarkets allows the spinach leaves to continue creating vitamins and minerals as they would naturally.\u00a0 Lester comments, “As long as there is moisture in the leaves and as long as there is gas exchange and light, it is good to go whether they are picked or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

How other vegetables and consumers can benefit from this study<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most exciting implication of these results is that other vegetables may receive the same benefits from fluorescent lighting.\u00a0 Keeping vegetables fresh in grocery stores is a constant struggle, and additional studies may illuminate more effective storage solutions.\u00a0 One serving of spinach currently provides 20% of your daily recommendation for vitamins C, A, B9, K, and E but with further research soon you may be getting more bang for your nutritional buck!<\/p>\n

Want to learn more? Check out the resources I used for this blog:<\/em><\/p>\n

Supermarket lighting enhances nutrient level of fresh spinach<\/a><\/p>\n

Want fresh veggies? Let there be light!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Allison Younkins Healthier spinach, just add light Spinach, or Spinacia oleracea, is one of the most nutritious vegetables found in the grocery store.\u00a0 Normally packaged in a clear plastic container, most spinach leaves are exposed to fluorescent supermarket lights for up to 24 hours a day.\u00a0 Surprisingly, a study published in March in the … Continue reading Fluorescent supermarket lighting leaves spinach more nutritious than ever<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[1643,797,2146],"class_list":["post-655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2071","tag-agriculture","tag-food","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}