THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON LEAFY VEGETABLES MINERAL COMPOSITION

Lettuce is one of the most popular leafy vegetables due to the high concentrations of minerals and vitamins. The high ecological plasticity and short vegetation period makes it extremely vulnerable to environmental conditions and, indirectly, to climate change. In order to obtain plants with valuable nutritional profile, the environmental conditions for cultivation, like moisture content and temperature are very important. There are many research studies performed concerning the effects of climatic changes on agricultural production, but the impact on the nutritional value of foods has not been commonly studied. The question to which this study intends to answer is to present the influence of climate change on mineral content of lettuce based on database information and experimental data, using different mathematical models. Even if lettuce production is performed mostly under controlled conditions, there are important modifications regarding nutritional profiles of lettuce, in special minerals content.