The effect of low-temperature plasma treatment on the plant seeds

The effect of low-temperature plasma (LTP) on the germination rate of three plants species: wheat, maize and pea was investigated. The impacts of LTP on inactivation of naturally occurring epiphytic, phytopathogenic and toxigenic fungi on the surface of wheat and maize seeds and also on the surface of artificially infected both seeds by chosen fungi was determined. The plasma source used in our study, so called Diffuse Coplanar Surface Barrier Discharge (DCSBD) [1] generates at atmospheric pressure in ambient air low-temperature plasma with high volume power density, therefore to achieve the required effect the short treatment time is needed. The aim of our study was to establish a correlation between the effect of the plasma on the surface sterilization and germination of seeds and the physical and chemical changes achieved via plasma, in particular, changes in surface wettability and in surface chemical composition.