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Significance Statement
Nowadays, non-equilibrium or so called cold plasma generated in air at atmospheric pressure is being successfully used in many in-line technological processes on the surface treatment (cleaning, improving surface and adhesion properties) of various materials as fabrics, glass, wood, synthetic polymeric but also natural organic materials. The cold plasma is also an effective tool in the surface modification, sterilization and decontamination for wide range of potential applications, in healthcare, biotechnology and in agricultural area. The cold plasma may be used also in the treatment of biodegradable and thermosensitive materials, thanks of non-thermal characteristic of the non-equilibrium plasma discharges where energetic electrons have enough energy to excite or ionize atoms and ions in collision processes and at the same time heavy particles are cold and cannot damage surface. Therefore, the cold plasma is a rich source of a variety of active species, radicals, charged particles and UV radiation suitable to react and modify the surface of the treated material.
An interesting agricultural application is the plasma treatment of plant seeds. During some 20 years of research a significant amount of results was obtained, which indicate the positive effects of the non-equilibrium plasma on seeds germination, as well as on the quality of plants grown from the plasma treated seeds. It was found that the plasma treatment can significantly increase germinating power; reduce germinating time and causes different metabolic changes in seeds. Seed germination is a complex process associated with many metabolic, cellular and molecular events. The cold plasma is also an effective method for the removal of contaminating surface microorganisms especially fungi and bacteria.
Our research is focused on the study of the effect of cold plasma generated at atmospheric pressure in the ambient air using Diffuse Coplanar Surface Barrier Discharge (DCSBD) on the germination rate, production of biomass, vigor of seedlings of the wheat seeds. The aim of our study is also to investigate the influence of the cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAPP) treatment on the inactivation of microorganisms (filamentous fungi) occurring on of wheat seeds surface. The perspective use of the cold atmospheric pressure plasma treatment for the reduction of the unwanted seed microflora would present an ecologically and economically suitable alternative or additive process to the traditional seed disinfection method.
Such a research implicates the creation of a strong multidisciplinary team comprising experts in plasma physics, applied physics, plasma diagnostics, as well plant physiology and microbiology. Our research team consists of researchers of the two leading Slovak universities – Comenius University in Bratislava (Department of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics and Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Natural Sciences) and the Slovak University of Technology (Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology).
Journal Reference
Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing, March 2016, Volume 36, Issue 2, pp 397-414.
Zahoranová 1, M. Henselová2, D. Hudecová3, B. Kaliňáková3, D. Kováčik1, V. Medvecká1,M. Černák1
[expand title=”Show Affiliations”]- Department of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina F2, 842 48, Bratislava, Slovakia
- Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina B-2, 842 15, Bratislava, Slovakia
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37, Bratislava, Slovakia
Abstract
Effects of a cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAPP) treatment on the germination, production of biomass, vigor of seedlings, uptake of water of wheat seeds (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Eva) were investigated. The cold atmospheric pressure plasma treatment influence on the inactivation of microorganisms occurring on the surface of wheat seeds was investigated also. The so-called Diffuse Coplanar Surface Barrier Discharge generating a cold plasma in ambient air with high power volume density of some 100 W/cm3 was used for the treatment of seeds at exposure times in the range of 10–600 s. The optical emission spectroscopy and the electrical measurements were used for estimation of cold atmospheric pressure plasma parameters. The obtained results indicate that the germination rate, dry weight and vigor of seedlings significantly increased for plasma treatment from 20 to 50 s. The plasma treatment of seeds led to an extensive increase in wettability and faster germination comparing with the untreated seeds. The growth inhibition effect of cold atmospheric pressure plasma on the surface microflora of wheat seeds increased with the increase of the treatment time. The efficiency of the treatment of wheat seeds artificially contaminated with pure cultures of filamentous fungi decreased in the following order:Fusarium nivale > F. culmorum > Trichothecium roseum > Aspergillus flavus > A. clavatus.
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