Promoting lentil germination and stem growth by plasma activated tap water, demineralized water and liquid fertilizer

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that plasma activation of tap water significantly enhances lentil germination and stem growth, primarily through radicals like hydrogen peroxide and nitrate that promote seed dormancy release.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method of using plasma-activated tap water to improve lentil germination and growth, highlighting the role of radicals in seed development.

Findings

Plasma-activated tap water increased germination rates to 80%.

Activated tap water outperformed commercial fertilizer in stem elongation.

Radicals like hydrogen peroxide and nitrate are key to seed dormancy release.

Abstract

Tap water, demineralized water and liquid fertilizer have been activated using an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) to investigate their benefits for the germination rate and stem elongation rate of lentils from Puy-en-Velay (France). By plasma-activating tap water, we have obtained germination rates as high as 80% (instead of 30% with tap water). Also, higher stem elongation rates and final stem lengths were obtained using activated tap water compared with commercial fertilizer. We show that these rates of germination and stem growth strongly depend on the combination of two radicals generated in the liquids by the plasma: hydrogen peroxide and nitrate. This synergy appears to be a condition for releasing seed dormancy through the endogenous production of NO radicals.