Francis Aedrian C.

Marmol
9 Galileo
RRL
A nutrient solution for hydroponic systems is an aqueous solution containing mainly
inorganics ions from soluble salts of essential elements for higher plants. Eventually,
some
organic compounds such as iron chelates may be present (Steiner, 1968). An essential
element has a clear physiological role and its absence prevents the complete plant life
cycle
(Taiz & Zeiger, 1998). Currently 17 elements are considered essential for most plants,
these
are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium,
sulphur, iron, copper, zinc, manganese, molybdenum, boron, chlorine and nickel
(Salisbury and Ross, 1994).
Hydroponics, by definition, is a method of growing plants in a water based, nutrient rich
solution. Hydroponics does not use soil, instead the root system is supported using an
inert medium such as perlite, rockwool, clay pellets, peat moss, or vermiculite. The
basic premise behind hydroponics is to allow the plants roots to come in direct contact
with the nutrient solution, while also having access to oxygen, which is essential for
proper growth (FullBloom Greenhouse Company).
Benefits of using Hydroponics

 Up to 90% more efficient use of water.

 Production increases 3 to 10 times in the same amount of space.
 Many crops can be produced twice as fast in a well managed hydroponic
system.
 Decreasing the time between harvest and consumption increases the
nutritional value of the end product.
 Indoor farming in a climate controlled environment means farms can exist in
places where weather and soil conditions are not favorable for traditional food
production.
 No chemical weed or pest control products are needed when operating a
hydroponic system.
In the last years eggplant has received a great interest as functional food, being
classified among top ten vegetables with antioxidant capacity because of its high
content of phenolics. This vegetable is rich in the content of anthocyanins in the peel
and also rich in the content of phenolic acids in the flesh, being delphinidin derivartives
and chlorogenic acid isomers the main phenolic compounds in those anatomic parts,
respectively. A lot of studies of eggplant phenolics have been published in the last
years, which include a great number of genotypes with a wide fruit diversity in shapes,
sizes and colors.
Bibliography
Nutrient Solutions for Hydroponic Systems, Libia I. Trejo-Téllez and Fernanso C.
Gómez Merino, Colegio, Montecillo, Texcoco, State of Mexico
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/221928014_Nutrient_Solutions_for_Hydroponic
s_Systems/ Date Retrieved: February 13 2020
Structure and Content of phenolics in eggplant (Solanum melongana)- a review
Author links open a overlay panel G. Niño-Medina J.B.Heredia
http://doi.org./10.1016/j.sajb.2017.03.016
Benefits of using Hydroponics
https://greenourplanet.org/benefits-of-hydroponics/ Date Retrieved: February 17, 2020