Vol. 10, Special Issue 1, Part K (2026)

The marketability of leafy greens is primarily limited by their rapid post-harvest senescence. Within aggregate hydroponic system different growing media and cultivars have different effects on leaf freshness and shelf-life. To determine the suitable substrate-cultivar combination for retaining longer freshness in hydroponically grown lettuce, a storage experiment was carried out to evaluate critical freshness indicators such as changes in physiological loss in weight and loss of chlorophyll content. Three lettuce cultivars: Romaine lettuce, Red Rose Lettuce and Lollo Rosso Lettuce were grown under three growing mediums (soil, cocopeat, cocopeat and perlite mixture). Weighing machine and SPAD meter were used to measure the significant physiological indicators of freshness of harvested lettuce leaves, over a 12 days storage period. Results revealed that Romaine lettuce cultivated in soil exhibited the highest post- harvest resilience, maintaining the lowest chlorophyll degradation that is around 11.19% and least physiological loss of weight i.e., around 2.36% at 12^th day storage. In, contrast Red Rose lettuce cultivar grown in cocopeat based aggregate hydroponic system was found to be the most susceptible to degradation, reaching a peak chlorophyll loss of 24.4% and highest mean weight loss of 3.37%. Consequently, based on the observed rates of physiological weight loss and chlorophyll degradation, the combination of Romaine lettuce and soil-based media emerged as the most effective treatment for maintaining post- harvest quality. The research findings indicate that selecting specific variety- media combinations is essential for optimizing the shelf- life and marketability of lettuce.