Research of Horticulture and Product Physiology Group
The vision of the chair group HPP is that controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is essential to advance nutritional food security.
Our mission is to conduct research on production of vegetables, fruits, ornamentals, and their quality at- and post-harvest, contributing to a sustainable production in CEA that enhances nutritional food security.
Our research
Driven by curiosity and grounded in a fundamental understanding of environmental crop and product physiology, our research explores how to use resources, including energy and water, efficiently while minimizing emissions and waste across cultivation systems ranging from low-tech to high-tech CEA (greenhouses and vertical farms).
By combining expertise in modelling, sensing and experimentation, and through collaboration within and beyond the group, we are building the scientific foundations for tomorrow's horticulture, enabling climate-resilient production systems that secure nutritious, high-quality food and ornamentals for a changing world. In this way we contribute to the quality of life.
Our Fields of Research
Photosynthesis
Theme vision
Our photosynthesis research focuses on understanding and improving carbon assimilation under realistic, dynamic growing conditions. By integrating leaf‑level mechanisms, whole‑plant responses, and environmental drivers (light, water, atmosphere), we aim to identify photosynthetic traits that enhance productivity, resource‑use efficiency, and crop resiliencein CEA.
What this enables
- Identification of dynamic photosynthetic traits for breeding and phenotyping
- Improved crop models that capture real‑world light and water dynamics
- Optimised lighting, climate, and irrigation strategies for greenhouse and vertical farming systems
Our scientific approach
- Dynamic photosynthesis: Moving beyond steady‑state measurements to quantify photosynthesis under fluctuating light, diurnal rhythms, and rapidly changing microclimates
- Gas exchange & stomatal kinetics: Dissecting the coordination between stomatal behaviour, CO2 diffusion, and biochemical limitations to improve carbon gain per unit water loss
- Light spectrum & canopy context: Linking light quality, photosystem balance, and canopy light distribution to photosynthetic performance and crop productivity
- Water relations & hydraulics: Integrating photosynthesis with plant water relations, hydraulic conductance, and transpiration control
Our team
Photosynthesis
Theme vision
Our photosynthesis research focuses on understanding and improving carbon assimilation under realistic, dynamic growing conditions. By integrating leaf‑level mechanisms, whole‑plant responses, and environmental drivers (light, water, atmosphere), we aim to identify photosynthetic traits that enhance productivity, resource‑use efficiency, and crop resiliencein CEA.
What this enables
- Identification of dynamic photosynthetic traits for breeding and phenotyping
- Improved crop models that capture real‑world light and water dynamics
- Optimised lighting, climate, and irrigation strategies for greenhouse and vertical farming systems
Our scientific approach
- Dynamic photosynthesis: Moving beyond steady‑state measurements to quantify photosynthesis under fluctuating light, diurnal rhythms, and rapidly changing microclimates
- Gas exchange & stomatal kinetics: Dissecting the coordination between stomatal behaviour, CO2 diffusion, and biochemical limitations to improve carbon gain per unit water loss
- Light spectrum & canopy context: Linking light quality, photosystem balance, and canopy light distribution to photosynthetic performance and crop productivity
- Water relations & hydraulics: Integrating photosynthesis with plant water relations, hydraulic conductance, and transpiration control
Our team
Crop physiology
Theme vision
In Crop physiologyour research focusses on the knowledge of factors and mechanisms that determine crop growth and yield in interaction with crop management (e.g. pruning and planting density) and the environment (e.g. light spectrum and intensity, temperature). We take a quantitative approach where modelling (process-based models, functional-structural plant models) plays a central role. Our focus is at the plant and crop level, taking into account knowledge obtained at the organ level. This higher aggregation level brings us also closer to the horticultural sector.
Application
With our work we contribute to productivity and resource use efficiency in controlled environment agriculture.
Current topics
- Leaf area development, light interception and crop photosynthesis
- Plant development, especially flowering and fruit set
- Biomass accumulation, yield formation, and resource-use efficiency
- Biomass partitioning between organs based on sink strength
- Yield gap analysis and yield component analysis
Our team
Growt & development
Theme vision
Our modelling research aims to understand and predict plant growth and development under dynamic environmental conditions by integrating physiological processes, plant architecture, and crop–environment interactions.
We aim to identify traits and mechanisms that enhance yield, quality, and resource-use efficiency in controlled environment agriculture.
What this enables
- Identification of growth and development traits for crop improvement
- Advancement of models for crop yield and quality
- Improvement of climate, lighting, and management strategies in CEA
Design of more resilient and sustainable horticultural systems
Our scientific approach
- Process-based growth modelling: Linking carbon dynamics, source–sink relations, and development processes to plant and crop performance
- Functional–structural plant modelling: Understanding how plant architecture and its interactions with the environment (e.g., light interception) influence plant growth
- Crop–environment interactions (G×E×M): Quantifying how genotype, environment, and management shape growth and yield
- Data integration & digital tools: Combining experiments, phenotyping, and data-driven approaches to improve crop models
Our team
Water relations
Theme vision
We envision controlled environment systems where plant water and nutrient use are continuously monitored, understood, and steered in real time, enabling optimal growth, yield, and quality with minimal resource input, even under dynamic conditions. We aim to unravel the dynamic interactions between plant water status, root function, environment, and whole plant physiology to enable real-time steering of crop performance.
What this enables
- Increased nutrient and water use efficiency
- Improved crop models that capture real‑world water dynamics
- Optimised climate, and irrigation strategies for greenhouse and vertical farming systems
Guide breeding for controlled environment agriculture
Our scientific approach
- View plants through the lens of the rootzone-plant-atmosphere continuum to manipulate water status at either the root or shoot end of the plant
- Use real-time instrumentation of phenotyping to understand the dynamic response of plants to changes in the rootzone environment.
- Connect water relations to other aspects of plant growth to optimize performance
Our team
Quality
Theme vision
Fresh plant products lose quality after harvest — but postharvest performance is largely determined before harvest. We investigate how preharvest conditions, genotype, and the regulation of specialized metabolism shape product quality, consumer acceptance, and shelf life. With one third of all plant products lost or wasted globally, and regulatory pressure on plastic packaging and pesticides set to increase losses further, upstream control of product physiology offers both a scientific opportunity and a societal imperative.
What this enables
- Reduced food loss and waste through upstream quality design
- Improved sensory, nutritional, and shelf-life quality of fresh plant products
- Evidence base for dietary transitions toward plant-based foods
Selection of cultivars with improved resilience and postharvest performance
Our scientific approach
- Plant physiology and biochemistry: Characterizing how growth conditions — light, nutrition, water status, and conditioned stress — influence water loss, respiration, development, and the accumulation of quality-related phytochemicals including carotenoids, flavonoids, volatile benzenoids, and terpenes
- Molecular biology: Identifying genes and regulatory mechanisms controlling specialized metabolite biosynthesis across development and postharvest stages, with focus on flowers and fruits
- Modelling: Quantifying genotype × environment interactions to predict quality outcomes and guide cultivation strategies
Our team
Horticulture and Product Physiology
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