A Simple Mass Balance Model for Lettuce - the Water Balance

A simple mass balance model has been developed and tested on lettuce data. A water balance was included in order to predict important fluxes (transpiration, water uptake, etc.) and to consider interactions between the water variables and the metabolism of the plant. A two-stage approach, in which a unique set of yield constants were identified for each stage, was successful in predicting water uptake, carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations, and final biomass dry weight.