Previous studies have mainly focused on investigating
the effects of extremely low (Fe completely omitted) or extremely
high external Fe supplies on the biomass production of
crops. Little information is available on the effects of other Fe levels
(e.g. mild Fe-deficiency) on crop growth. Furthermore, there is also
little information on the effects of Fe status on the nutritional quality
of crops. Understanding the two effects mentioned above may
help us to develop an optimal way of managing Fe nutrition in
the hydroponic-based soilless culture, so as to obtain optimal
growth and improvement of the nutritional quality of future crops.
In the present study, we used hydroponic-cultivated spinach
plants (Spinacia oleracea L.) to investigate the effects of different
external Fe supplies on the yield and quality of the edible parts.
We found that mild Fe-deficiency not only increases the spinach’s
biomass production, but also improves its nutritional quality.