Life cycle assessment of chicory production in soil-based, hydroponic, and decoupled aquaponic systems

This study provides a comprehensive environmental and economic evaluation of two controlled cultivation environments—greenhouses and growth chambers—applied to chicory production in southern Italy, as a case study. Within each environment, three systems were evaluated: traditional soil cultivation, hydroponics, and decoupled aquaponics. Environmental impacts were estimated using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), while economic performance was analyzed using Life Cycle Costing (LCC). The functional unit was defined as a single chicory plant, and the system boundary was defined as a cradle-to-gate approach. Across all production systems, growth chambers showed significantly higher environmental and economic impacts than greenhouses, with global warming impacts reaching 2.1 kg CO 2 eq versus 0.12–0.15 kg CO 2 eq per plant, respectively, and water consumption increasing from 5 to 13 L in greenhouses to 13–15 L in growth chambers, primarily due to energy-related water consumption. Economic results showed costs ranging from €1.82–2.76 per plant in growth chambers, compared to €0.37–1.33 in greenhouses, depending on the growing technique used. These results underscore the strategic importance of selecting growing environments based on production scale and end-use. Greenhouses offer a cost-effective and sustainable option for large-scale production, while growth chambers, despite their greater resource requirements, allow for precision control, ideal for high-value applications such as urban agriculture and nutraceutical production.