Effects of Electromagnetically Treated Water (EMTW) on the Properties of Water and Photosynthetic Performance of Spinacia oleracea L

TL;DR

This study shows that water treated with electromagnetic fields boosts spinach plant growth and photosynthesis by improving water properties and plant physiology.

Contribution

The study introduces a dual-frequency solenoid system to generate EMTW and demonstrates its significant physiological effects on spinach plants.

Findings

EMTW irrigation increased spinach photosynthetic rate by ~80% and transpiration by 49–67%.

Chlorophyll content rose by 9.3–9.5%, and phenolic and flavonoid contents increased by 7.4% and 7.6% in field-grown plants.

Effects were statistically significant (p < 0.001 or p < 0.01) under both lab and field conditions.

Abstract

The applications of electromagnetic (EM) field treatment on water in agriculture have garnered increasing attention as a sustainable method to enhance plant growth, water-use efficiency, and metabolic performance. A growing body of evidence suggests that exposure to EM fields can affect water molecules, possibly by influencing hydrogen bonding dynamics, the structuring of water clusters, and electrokinetic properties of the water molecules. These alterations are thought to correlate with plant physiological performance. The methodology of the study was divided into two parts. The first part focused on the preparation of electromagnetically treated water. The second part involved applying this treated water to spinach plants. The present study investigates the physiological responses of Spinacia oleracea L. to irrigation with electromagnetically treated water (EMTW), focusing on elucidating the potential mechanisms that may underlie the observed effects. EMTW was generated using a solenoid-based system operating in dual-frequency ranges (100–1000 Hz and 10–100 kHz), which has been previously shown to influence both the microbiological and electrokinetic properties of aqueous systems. To evaluate the structural and functional implications of EMTW, a combined methodological approach was employed, integrating proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy, density functional theory (DFT) modeling of water hydrogen bonds and clusters, and comprehensive plant physiological assessments. Plants were cultivated under both controlled and field conditions to assess consistency across environmental settings. Physiological measurements demonstrated that EMTW irrigation increased photosynthetic rate by ~80%, transpiration by 49–67%, stomatal conductance by 78–129%, intercellular CO2 concentration by 42–80%, and chlorophyll content by 9.3–9.5% compared to control samples. Additionally, phenoloc and flavonoid contents were elevated by 7.4% and 7.6%, respectively, in field-grown plants. These enhancements were statistically significant (p < 0.001 or p < 0.01) under both laboratory and field conditions, confirming the robustness of the observed effects.

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