Fish mint, Houttuynia cordata Thunb. (HCT) is an edible vegetable that has also been used in traditional folk medicines. As both a medicinal herb and a dietary source, HCT has been clinically proven to be a pivotal ingredient in formulas administered to alleviate COVID-19 symptoms.
With the increasing market demand for imported materials, ensuring the quality consistency of HCT becomes a significant concern. In this study, the growing time for hydroponically-cultivated HCT with seaweed extract and amino acids added (HCTW) reduced by half compared to conventional soil-cultivated HCT (HCTS). Key quantified components in HCTW, flavonoid glycosides, and caffeoylquinic acid derivatives exhibited a 143% increase over HCTS.
These crucial constituents were responsible for possessing antioxidant activity (IC50 < 25 μg/mL) and anti-nitrite oxide production (IC50 < 20 μg/mL). An economically-designed hydroponic system with appropriate additives is proposed to replace HCTS with improvements of growth time, overall production yields, and bioactive qualities.
Yen Chi Loo, Yi-Hong Tsai, Hsieh Chen, Hui-Ping Hsieh, Yen-Chang Chen, Hsueh-Er Chen, Zhi-Hu Lin, Hung-Tse Huang, I-Min Liu, Chia-Ching Liaw, Fang-Rong Chang,
Quality and production enhancement of fish mint, Houttuynia cordata Thunb., cultivated in a hydroponic planting system with designed plant growth-promoting additives,
Heliyon, Volume 10, Issue 7, 2024, e28755, ISSN 2405-8440, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28755.