Ethylene dynamics in the CELSS biomass production chamber

A material balance model for ethylene was developed and applied retrospectively to data obtained in the Biomass Production Chamber of CELSS in order to calculate true plant production rates of ethylene. Four crops were analyzed: wheat, lettuce, soybean, and potato. The model represents an effort to account for each and every source and sink for ethylene in the system. The major source of ethylene is the plant biomass and the major sink is leakage to the surroundings. The result, expressed in the units of ppd/day, were converted to nl of ethylene per gram of plant dry mass per hour and compare favorably with recent glasshouse to belljar experiments.