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Tokhtar V.K., Tretyakov M.Y., Tokhtar L.A., Zhuravleva E.V., Sibirev A.V., Biryukov D.V., Chernykh V.A. Assessing a comprehensive impact of various light spectra and microorganisms on growth and development of Ocimum basiliicum L. varieties. Sel'skokhozyaistvennaya Biologiya [Agricultural Biology], 2026, Vol. 61, № 1, p. 156-171.
(how to cite this article)

doi: 10.15389/agrobiology.2026.1.156eng

UDC: 635.713:[58.03+58.071

Acknowledgements:
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the first versions of the article, which significantly improved the quality of the data presented in it.
Funded by a grant from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation for large scientific projects in the priority areas of scientific and technological development (project No. 075-15-2024-540)

 

ASSESSING A COMPREHENSIVE IMPACT OF VARIOUS LIGHT SPECTRA AND MICROORGANISMS ON GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF Ocimum basiliicum L. VARIE-TIES

V.K. Tokhtar1 ✉, M.Y. Tretyakov1, L.A. Tokhtar1,
E.V. Zhuravleva2, A.V. Sibirev3, D.V. Biryukov1, V.A. Chernykh1

1Botanical Garden of Belgorod State National Research University, 85, ul. Pobedy, Belgorod, 308015 Russia, e-mail info@bsuedu.ru (✉ corresponding author), tokhtar@bsuedu.ru, tretyakovmiy@gmail.com;
2EFKO Companies, 2, ul. Frunze, Alekseevka, Belgorod Province, 309850 Russia, e-mail zhuravla@yandex.ru;
3Federal Scientific Agroengineering Center VIM, 5, 1 Institutskii proezd, Moscow, 109428 Russia, e-mail vim@vim.ru

ORCID:
Tokhtar V.K. orcid.org/0000-0002-7417-4893
Sibirev A.V. orcid.org/0000-0002-9442-2276
Tretyakov M.Y. orcid.org/0000-0001-6789-8060
Biryukov D.V. orcid.org/0000-0001-9336-2278
Tokhtar L.A. orcid.org/0000-0001-5152-3731
Chernykh V.A. orcid.org/0009-0008-7270-5145
Zhuravleva E.V. orcid.org/0000-0002-3253-0730

Final revision received October 11, 2025
Accepted December 03, 2025

Cultivation of microgreens in closed facilities is promising due to profitability for the manufacturer and satisfies the year-round urban demand for products. The developed technologies for growing plants in greenhouses largely involve the use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). It is shown that changes in the light spectral composition pose different effects on plant growth and development, and thereby on photosynthetic processes and productivity in vivo and in vitro. Importantly, in terms of plant growth parameters, the effect of bacterial strains together with light of various spectral compositions has practically not been considered. The development of lighting technology to a better use of controlled spectra necessitates an accurate understanding of how changes in the spectral composition of light can affect the growth, development and biochemistry of plants, in particular, aromatic crops the cultivation of which has great potential. A key problem in assessing the combined effect of light and microorganisms on plants remains how to accurately record morphophysiological changes in plants. Modern noninvasive tools provide assessment of plant phenotype parameters under controlled environment resulting in rapid accumulation of a big set of experimental data. This paper is the first to reveal the influence of growth promoting and symbiotic microorganisms combined with various light spectra on the growth and development of sweet basil varieties. Our aim was a comprehensive assessing the effect of light spectral composition and biotization processes on the morphophysiological parameters of Ocimum basilicum varieties in the LED culture. The work was carried out at the BelSU Botanical Garden during March 19-April 29, 2025. We compared four O. basilicum varieties from two groups differing in leaf color, the purple-leaved Purpurnye Zvezdy, Russki Gigant and the green-leaved Buterbrodnyi List, Tonus. The seeds were sown in 0.5 l plastic pots P9. To assess the effect of microorganisms, microbiological preparations BSka-3 (Biotechagro LLC, Russia) and BioAzFC (NVP BashInkom LLC, Russia) were used. The plants were cultivated on the X-bright Fito Spectr V1.0 phytostellages (BelSU Electronic Systems LLC, Russia) equipped with LED lighting sources and the ability to adjust the spectral composition and intensity of radiation. The spectral composition of the light was evaluated using an UPRtek MK 350D spectrometer (UPRtek, Taiwan). The experiment examined the plant responses to exposure to lighting combinations in three spectral ranges of photosynthetically active radiation (HEADLIGHTS) (blue, green, red) and the combined effect of microbiological preparations and lighting modes. A 3D multispectral laser scanner PlantEye F500 ("Phenospex", the Netherlands) was used to evaluate the morphophysiological characteristics of plants. The experimental data obtained indicated an increase in the digital biomass of plants, the normalized chlorophyll index (NPCI), the leaf aging index (PCRI) and their hue in four basil varieties when exposed to the studied factors. It has been established that the use of microorganisms can reduce the rate of recruitment of vegetative mass of plants, but at the same time there is an increase in the activity of pigment synthesis. Exposure of basil plants to different light spectra and microorganisms in some cases led to a synergistic effect on plant growth and development. Differences in the reaction of purple-leaved and green-leaved varieties to the effects of different spectral compositions of light have been established. The optimal spectral composition of light has been identified for varieties with green leaves (PPFD 405.2; PPFD-B 2.5; PPFD-G 2.3; PPFD-R 400.4), which contribute to the growth of digital biomass values. The increase in pigment content in green leaf varieties was achieved by using the following spectral light composition: PPFD 400: PPFD-B 94.1; PPFD-G 202.1; PPFD-R 103.9. In red-leaved basil varieties, biomass gain was more intensive when using blue light, 211.2 cm3 for the Ppurpurnye Zveady, and white spectral light composition, 307.0 cm3 for the Russkii Gigant variety. Our findings can be practiced to increase the biomass of microgreens and reduce the cost of greenhouse-grown plants.

Keywords: Ocimum basilicum, spectral composition of light, microorganisms, morphophysiological parameters, non-invasive assessment.

 

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