Effects of Oxygen (O2) Plasma Treatment in Promoting the Germination and Growth of Chili

• DOI: 10.1007/s11090-021-10206-2
• Publication Date: 2021-10-20T21:48:20Z
• Authors: Naeem Ahmed; Asad Masood; Kim S. Siow; M. F. Mohd Razip Wee; Farah Farhanah Haron; Anuttam Patra; Nafarizal Nayan; Chin Fhong Soon
• Keywords: Imbibition

In general, seed germination is improved by low-pressure plasma treatment using precursors such as air, nitrogen, O2, and argon, etc. For the first time, low-pressure O2 plasma was used to treat chili seeds in this study. When compared to untreated and vacuum-treated seeds, O2 plasma treatment using the discharge power of 80 W for 60 s significantly improves chili seed germination and growth. The effect of vacuum on the germination and growth of chili seeds was also studied and shown to be negligible. The physical and chemical changes induced by O2 plasma treatment were investigated to understand the plasma treatment to germination improvement. Combinatory etching and chemical modification aided imbibition and increased germination percentage in this O2 plasma treatment on chili seeds. The success of this method has the potential to be scaled up to solve food security issues with seeds that would otherwise struggle to germinate.