Something good about old vegetables

[n2doc]

SUPERMARKET LIGHTS SUPERCHARGE VEGETABLES' NUTRITION VALUE
Grocery stores and consumers may want to rethink how they store their produce.

By Emily Sohn | Wed Mar 10, 2010 07:00 AM ET


There might be a bright side to the harsh and unflattering lighting in most supermarkets: healthier veggies.

In a recent study, spinach gained nutritional value as it sat for days under fluorescent lights, with some vitamins doubling their concentrations. The discovery suggests that supermarkets and consumers might want to rethink the way they store their produce, said study author Gene Lester, a research plant physiologist at the United States Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Md.

Continuous light exposure allows plants to maintain photosynthesis, Lester explained, and photosynthesis produces nutrients. Fluorescent supermarket lights, which mimic the spectrum of natural sunlight, are often kept on all the time, day and night.

"I was in the grocery store, and I happened to stop and think, 'Here's spinach in a clear, plastic box that can be exposed to light 24-hours a day, for two or three days before it's purchased,'" Lester said. That made him wonder: "Are we seeing a benefit after it's harvested?"

http://news.discovery.com/earth/supermarkets-vegetables-produce.html

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Perhaps we'll see refrigerators in the near future

with small, built-in fluorescent lights in the crisper drawers. Although this would add to the cost, increased electricity usage should be minimal. However, this would put an end to the age-old speculation over whether the light in the fridge stays on or goes out when the door is closed.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. But DO Fluorescent supermarket lights mimic natural sunlight?

I know when I used grow lights ( full specturm ) to get my vegies started in the spring, the lights had a blue-ish cast and the light they gave off was different than the light I see in the produce aisles.
So I am wondering about the premise of the article.