High light intensity at End-Of-Production improves the nutritional value of basil but does not affect postharvest chilling tolerance

Basil suffers from chilling injury (CI) when stored at temperatures below 10–12 °C which seems related to the imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants. We hypothesized that increased light intensity applied shortly before harvest (EOP, End-Of-Production) increases nutritional value i.e. carbohydrates and antioxidants and could improve the chilling tolerance. Two basil cultivars were grown in a vertical farming set-up at a light intensity of 150 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹. During the last 5 days of growth, EOP light treatments ranging from 50 to 600 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹ were applied. After harvest the leaves were stored at 4 or 12 °C in darkness. Higher EOP light intensity increased the antioxidant (total ascorbic acid, rosmarinic acid) and carbohydrate contents at harvest. During storage antioxidants decreased more rapidly at 4 than at 12 °C. However, increased EOP light intensity did not alleviate chilling symptoms suggesting a minor role of antioxidants studied against chilling stress.