Effect of Light Intensity and Spectra on Inorganic Constituents in Vietnamese Coriander (Persicaria odorata (Lour.) Soják)
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report (Previous Reviewer 2)
Previous comments have been taken into account and the manuscript revised. Editorial note: the literature should be cited not [3] [4] [5], but [3-5]. This should be reviewed throughout the text.
Author Response
citation order is changed
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report (Previous Reviewer 3)
The manuscript Effect of light intensity and spectra on inorganic constituents in Vietnamese Coriander (Persicaria odorata (Lour.) Soják) by Kerstin Paschko, Nikolina Grabovac, Ina Pinker, Michael Henry Böhme provides a comparative analysis of a multivariate experiment in which an attempt was made to assess the prospects for using spectrum manipulation lighting for the purpose of regulating the composition of trace elements and nitrates. The authors show that the use of red and green light spectrum may be useless to increase "conditionally useful" trace elements in dry biomass, but may prevent the formation of nitrates.
The work contains all the necessary parts, but has incorrectly formatted fragments, so in the manuscript the names of the authors are abbreviated, after each name there is an *, what it means is not clear, 4 sending authors are not allowed in this edition, the roles of the authors and the absence of claims are reflected in the relevant sections of the manuscript , which are not present in this case.
As for the manuscript itself, it should be changed and the results clearly stated in the abstract, otherwise the main result is not clear.
The disadvantage of the work is the lack of measurements of the spectrum indicators, since the adjustment of the equipment does not necessarily guarantee compliance, and judging by the data given, this was not controlled.
Tables 1,2 and 3 are not formatted according to the rules, correct this.
In the discussion there is no part of modern work related to the mechanism of action of green and red.
Conclusions should be formulated clearly and unambiguously, as this emphasizes the importance and necessity of this work. In conclusion, a recommendation should be added - use this and / or that, since it is clearly proven.
After correction, the manuscript may be published.
Author Response
The manuscript Effect of light intensity and spectra on inorganic constituents in Vietnamese Coriander (Persicaria odorata (Lour.) Soják) by Kerstin Paschko, Nikolina Grabovac, Ina Pinker, Michael Henry Böhme provides a comparative analysis of a multivariate experiment in which an attempt was made to assess the prospects for using spectrum manipulation lighting for the purpose of regulating the composition of trace elements and nitrates. The authors show that the use of red and green light spectrum may be useless to increase "conditionally useful" trace elements in dry biomass, but may prevent the formation of nitrates.
The work contains all the necessary parts, but has incorrectly formatted fragments, so in the manuscript the names of the authors are abbreviated, after each name there is an *, what it means is not clear, 4 sending authors are not allowed in this edition, the roles of the authors and the absence of claims are reflected in the relevant sections of the manuscript , which are not present in this case.
Thank you very much for your comments. * has been replaced by 1 (reference to the organization). * is now only related to the author to whom correspondence should be addressed. And the names don’t contain abbreviations anymore. Roles of the authors are now described after the section conclusion (“Author contributions”).
As for the manuscript itself, it should be changed and the results clearly stated in the abstract, otherwise the main result is not clear.
Same adjustments have been done. Hopefully, results are clearer now. (line 10-15, 16-25)
The disadvantage of the work is the lack of measurements of the spectrum indicators, since the adjustment of the equipment does not necessarily guarantee compliance, and judging by the data given, this was not controlled.
Tables 1,2 and 3 are not formatted according to the rules, correct this.
Formatting of the tables have been adjusted.
In the discussion there is no part of modern work related to the mechanism of action of green and red.
Two references were added: one describing the effects of green light on enzyme expression and activities (see line 377-382) and another one describing the effects of red light on the expression of the nitrate reductase. As this one only confirms the results of other studies, it was just added as a reference without being further described in the text.
Conclusions should be formulated clearly and unambiguously, as this emphasizes the importance and necessity of this work. In conclusion, a recommendation should be added - use this and / or that, since it is clearly proven.
Conclusions have been changed. Hopefully they are more clear now. (line 606-609)
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report (Previous Reviewer 4)
The quality of the manuscript has been improved, and I suggest its acceptance for publication after minor revision:
1. Statistical letters in Tables should be superscript
2. Please present the cited references properly in the baskets.
For example, line 275: [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] should be [28-33]
Author Response
The quality of the manuscript has been improved, and I suggest its acceptance for publication after minor revision:
- Statistical letters in Tables should be superscript
- Please present the cited references properly in the baskets.
For example, line 275: [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] should be [28-33]
Thank you very much for your comments. Statistical letters in tables and the cited references are corrected accordingly.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 Comments
Point 1: The manuscript presents the impact of lighting conditions on the content of inorganic constituents in Persicaria odorata under greenhouse conditions compared to climate chamber.
In principle, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of natural sunlight (greenhouse) and light of modified fluorescent tubes (monochromatic LEDs and photoselective plastic films), in the growth chamber, which caused some changes in the spectral composition of light, including the ratios between spectral intervals, as well as daylight integral. The obtained results should have helped to a better understand the effects of light on the type and quantity of inorganic compounds in studied plants in order to obtain crops of higher nutritional value.
The experimental way is interesting, based on a multitude of variables which, however, seem to be chosen by chance, without having a logical association. The obtained results are valuable, but there are still many aspects that need to be corrected and /or completed.
Response 1: Thank you very much. We hope the changes meet your expectations.
Point 2: Lines 21 and 24 - "In summary" este prea repetitiv.
Response 2: This is changed now. Thank you (line 21-24)
Point 3: The introduction part is based on old information, with a theoretical, generalist approach, specific to courses for students. The character of the "state of the arts" is almost completely missing, i.e., the current state of knowledge in the field, with the objective analysis of the latest knowledge acquired through research in the proposed field of the research topic. Therefore, the used references are old, and the way of presenting them has a much too theoretical and general character. It leaves the issuance of the hypothesis from which the research was started.
Response 3: The introduction was rewritten; more recent references are included as well as a hypothesis (line 131-133).
Reviewer 2 Report
The references cited by the authors is not recent. Out of 42 literature sources, 31 are older than ten years. Although there are not many articles on the effect of light on mineral elements in plants, recently, such studies are appearing, and they are analyzed together with other indicators. A few links to such articles, but more can be found:
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1038/s41598-020-59574-3.pdf
file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/2327-9788-article-p31.pdf
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996922003866
file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/horticulturae-06-00040-v2.pdf
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2019.00305/full
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308814615303460
Therefore, I suggest the authors search for more recent literature and supplement the introduction and discussions with its analysis.
In the methodological part, the lighting options should be presented more clearly, especially the intensity. Maybe it is possible to present them in a table, not only in figures. In addition, in this section should be specified the manufacturers of LED and photoselective plastic films.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 2 Comments
Point 1: The references cited by the authors is not recent. Out of 42 literature sources, 31 are older than ten years. Although there are not many articles on the effect of light on mineral elements in plants, recently, such studies are appearing, and they are analyzed together with other indicators. A few links to such articles, but more can be found:
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1038/s41598-020-59574-3.pdf
file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/2327-9788-article-p31.pdf
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996922003866
file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/horticulturae-06-00040-v2.pdf
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2019.00305/full
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308814615303460
Therefore, I suggest the authors search for more recent literature and supplement the introduction and discussions with its analysis.
Response 1: Thank you very much, also for the references. We added more recent literature especially in the introduction but also in the discussion.
Point 2: In the methodological part, the lighting options should be presented more clearly, especially the intensity. Maybe it is possible to present them in a table, not only in figures. In addition, in this section should be specified the manufacturers of LED and photoselective plastic films.
Response 2: Thank you for the advice. The light conditions are now described in tables (table 1, table 2, table 3). The manufacturers of the photoselective plastic films are mentioned (line 255). Unfortunately, we don’t have the name of the LED manufacturer. But the LEDs are described as detailed as possible (light intensity, light spectrum) (line 234-238).
Reviewer 3 Report
Manuscript Effect of light intensity and spectra on inorganic constituents in Vietnamese Coriander (Persicaria odorata (Lour.) Soják) by M.H. Böhme, K. Paschko, N. Grabovac and I. Pinker considers the accumulation of individual elements (Ca, P, K, Mg, Fe) and Nitrate in the cultivation of non-traditional salad crop Vietnamese Coriander. In this paper, we consider the probability of the influence of the type of illumination on the accumulation of (Ca, P, K, Mg, Fe) and Nitrate.
In general, the article is compiled in accordance with the rules and contains the necessary parts. However, the list of references is not drawn up according to the rules; in the text of the manuscript, references are not in the form of numbers, but by surnames. References are listed alphabetically in the bibliography.
It is also surprising that the authors do not consider any hypothesis for what reason the light composition could affect the change in the amount of the studied elements. The work presents obvious results associated only with the refinement of the accumulation of Nitrate. It is surprising that even this concept is not reflected in the form of a hypothesis, thesis, or the task of the manuscript.
The data presented do not affect the issues considered in the study of the effects of LED on various crops given in recent years.
I think that the authors should revise the introduction, supplementing the concept with modern references and clearly formulate the task and hypothesis of the study. And also to supplement the information why these nutrients were chosen for research and what is their nutritional or taste value.
On the other hand, if this plant is chosen as a model, the methodological advantage of this model should be described.
There is a slight inaccuracy in the citation section: the order of the authors has been changed there. Pay attention to this.
Please clarify Table 1, Table 3, Table 4 : *shown are mean values, small letters indicate significant differences between treatment and respective control (tukey-test, p≤0.05). Other numbers are controls and do not differ from each other.
Modern references should also be used in the discussion.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 3 Comments
Point 1: In general, the article is compiled in accordance with the rules and contains the necessary parts. However, the list of references is not drawn up according to the rules; in the text of the manuscript, references are not in the form of numbers, but by surnames. References are listed alphabetically in the bibliography.
Response 1: Thank you very much for the comment – it is changed now.
Point 2: It is also surprising that the authors do not consider any hypothesis for what reason the light composition could affect the change in the amount of the studied elements. The work presents obvious results associated only with the refinement of the accumulation of Nitrate. It is surprising that even this concept is not reflected in the form of a hypothesis, thesis, or the task of the manuscript.
Response 2: Hypothesis is now included (line 131-133). Thank you.
Point 3: The data presented do not affect the issues considered in the study of the effects of LED on various crops given in recent years.
I think that the authors should revise the introduction, supplementing the concept with modern references and clearly formulate the task and hypothesis of the study. And also, to supplement the information why these nutrients were chosen for research and what is their nutritional or taste value.
Response 3: Thank you, the introduction is rewritten with more recent literature, a hypothesis (line 131-133) and more information related to the importance of the nutrients for human health (line 125-127) and the deficient intake in Europe and/or Germany (line 128-130)
Point 4: On the other hand, if this plant is chosen as a model, the methodological advantage of this model should be described.
Response 4: The advantages of the plant as a model are described in line 134-139.
Point 5: There is a slight inaccuracy in the citation section: the order of the authors has been changed there. Pay attention to this.
Response 5: Thank you, it is changed now.
Point 6: Please clarify Table 1, Table 3, Table 4: *shown are mean values, small letters indicate significant differences between treatment and respective control (tukey-test, p≤0.05). Other numbers are controls and do not differ from each other.
Response 6: The explanation is adjusted and hopefully more understandable now.
Point 7: Modern references should also be used in the discussion.
Response 7: More recent references are especially used in the introduction and some also in the discussion. Related to the function of the nutrients in plants it is not easy to find more recent literature, so the “old” ones are still included.
Reviewer 4 Report
Manuscript, horticulturae-2212314, reports the impact of light conditions on inorganic constituents’ content in Vietnamese Coriander under realistic greenhouse conditions and a climate chamber. The paper is below the criteria that need to be reached for publishing in the Horticulturae journal. I suggest rejection. In my opinion, more work should be done, rewritten with more details, and resubmitted.
Only a few inorganic constituents (K, Ca, Mg, P, Fe, nitrate) were determined. Plenty of other macro- and microelements, essential for plants and humans, should be determined and discussed.
In addition, the authors mentioned in the Introduction part of the manuscript that Vietnamese Coriander has a high content of polyphenolic compounds. Therefore, the content of total, as well as individual phenolic compounds, should be determined. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of tested samples should be evaluated.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 4 Comments
Point 1: Manuscript, horticulturae-2212314, reports the impact of light conditions on inorganic constituents’ content in Vietnamese Coriander under realistic greenhouse conditions and a climate chamber. The paper is below the criteria that need to be reached for publishing in the Horticulturae journal. I suggest rejection. In my opinion, more work should be done, rewritten with more details, and resubmitted.
Only a few inorganic constituents (K, Ca, Mg, P, Fe, nitrate) were determined. Plenty of other macro- and microelements, essential for plants and humans, should be determined and discussed.
In addition, the authors mentioned in the Introduction part of the manuscript that Vietnamese Coriander has a high content of polyphenolic compounds. Therefore, the content of total, as well as individual phenolic compounds, should be determined. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of tested samples should be evaluated.
Response 1: We analyzed more constituents (polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, ascorbic acid, chlorophyll, antioxidative capacity). The results are already described in another article which is now mentioned in the introduction of the manuscript (line 138-139). Of course, it is interesting to present the effects of the light conditions on all analyzed substances (or even more) but within this article we decided to describe the effects just on six substances to have the chance to be more detailed.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript still has many shortcomings, starting from the hypothesis, the research methods and the way of statistical processing and presentation of the obtained. For example, the last two tables showed no limit differences and classes of significance. The discussion chapter was summarily adapted to the reviewer suggestions, being updated, in part, the references on the same comments, which is not acceptable.
Author Response
Reviewer 1:
The manuscript still has many shortcomings, starting from the hypothesis,
- The background and the aim of the research is explained.
the research methods and the way of statistical processing and presentation of the obtained.
- For the statistical calculation methods used are mentioned
For example, the last two tables showed no limit differences and classes of significance.
- Regarding table 8: average partial correlation coefficients are shown; therefore, no significances can be indicated.
- There was a mistake in table 9. Significances (indicated by bold values) were not shown. It is corrected now.
The discussion chapter was summarily adapted to the reviewer suggestions, being updated, in part, the references on the same comments, which is not acceptable.
- - You are right, a chapter discussion is always influenced by the research background of the researchers and the results. It is not so easy to combine everything, but we hope that in this article the available knowledge has been well combined with our research.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
The manuscript "Effect of light intensity and spectra on inorganic constituents in Vietnamese Coriander (Persicaria odorata (Lour.) Soják)" by authors Kerstin Paschko, Nikolina Grabovac , Ina Pinker, Michael Henry Böhme has been revised, the comments allow the article to be printed as presented. Although I think literature could be more modern and expressive.It is customary to highlight changes in text to make it easier to evaluate edits.
Author Response
Thank you
Reviewer 4 Report
I suggest acceptance for publication in its present form.
Author Response
Thank you
