Research regarding the impact of cold plasma treatment applied to wheat crop seeds

Abstract

World demand for food has an upwards trend, and in this context, solutions are sought so that each seed can benefit from optimal conditions, have a uniform rise, and produce vigorous plants that produce at the potential level. Cold plasma treatments are potentially useful in treating seeds to improve the germination quality and increase this in the early stages of vegetation. This paper aims to test the impact that cold plasma treatments have on wheat seeds and to determine the influence of treatment duration and discharge voltage on germination parameters. Applying cold plasma treatments to wheat grains had different effects depending on the time and discharge voltage used but showed a positive impact, manifested by improved germ characteristics and an increase in the biometric parameters studied. Thus, the increase in treatment duration and discharge voltage resulted in significant increases in germination parameters compared with untreated controls. Due to the results obtained, plasma can become an effective alternative method for treating seeds used in agriculture.