Mung Bean Germination Under Select Wavelengths

Abstract

Mung beans (Vigna radiata) are an inexpensive, sustainable, and essential source of nutrients. Developing optimal methods in germination, such as determining light wavelengths that produce the healthiest seedlings, likely will correlate to protein content and metabolites, and overall a more nutritious bean. This is necessary as many impoverished areas across the world lack accessibility to nutrient-dense ingredients such as animal meat. This experiment had three mung bean groups limited to either red (λ= 680 nm), blue (λ= 410 nm), green (λ= 520 nm), and white light wavelengths. One treatment consisted of a no light control group. The mung beans were germinated under these various light conditions to determine if there would be a significant difference in their final radicle length after one week of light exposure. Statistical analysis showed that there was no significance between the red, blue, green, or white light treatment groups in terms of radicle length. The no light control group displayed significantly greater amounts of radicle growth (p<0.0001).

Keywords: mung beans; germination; wavelengths; radicle growth