Apigenin Accumulation in Matricaria chamomilla and Petroselinum crispum Produced in a Vertical Hydroponic System

Apigenin, an anticancer secondary metabolite, is produced in selected organs of a few plant taxa, including chamomile ( Matricaria chamomilla ) flowers and parsley ( Petroselinum crispum ) leaves. In this study, two cultivars of chamomile (Bodegold and Zloty Lan) and three cultivars of parsley (Darki, Giant of Italy, and Wega) were included in an indoor vertical farm trial to determine apigenin accumulation and biomass production. Vertical farming was selected for its ability to produce a quality crop with a tightly controlled growing environment. The plants were started from seed in a growth chamber and transferred to the vertical farm when they reached two sets of true leaves. The plants were maintained solely under light-emitting diodes with daily light integrals of 19 and 17 mol·m −2 ·d −1 for parsley and chamomile, respectively. The photoperiod was set to 16 hours for both species to induce flowering in the chamomile. After 15 weeks, mature parsley leaves and unopened chamomile inflorescences were harvested for analysis. All plants matured quickly during the growing period; however, only 63% of the ‘Zloty Lan’ chamomile plants produced flowers. At harvest, the total dry mass of each plant was also recorded. The Giant of Italy cultivar produced significantly more usable biomass compared with that of any other cultivar of parsley or chamomile, with 49.3 g usable tissue per plant. Apigenin was extracted from lyophilized samples and quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography–ultraviolet detection. The results showed that total apigenin accumulation was significantly higher in the ‘Bodegold’ chamomile compared to any parsley cultivar, with 0.70 mg·g −1 dried tissue. Additionally, ‘Bodegold’ generated significantly more usable biomass, suggesting that this cultivar shows potential for producing apigenin in a controlled environment.