A Non‐thermal Plasma Seed Treatment Method for Management of a Seedborne Fungal Pathogen on Rice Seed

• DOI: 10.2135/cropsci2013.05.0331
• Publication Date: 2014-02-27T17:20:19Z
• Authors: Young‐Ki Jo; Jaemin Cho; Tsung‐Chan Tsai; David Staack; Mi‐Hyung Kang; Jae‐Hwan Roh; Dong‐Bum Shin; William Cromwell; Dennis Gross
• Keywords: Nonthermal plasma; Seed treatment; Sterilization

ABSTRACT Seeds contaminated with pathogens are the primary inoculum for plant diseases in many food crops. Conventional treatments seedborne use hot water, chlorine or fungicide applications. A novel seed treatment method based on non‐thermal plasma generated by an air dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) device was evaluated this study as alternative to these conventional treatments. The at atmospheric pressure and room temperature consisted of partially‐ionized gases that chemically reactive. antimicrobial activity against important pathogen, Gibberella fujikuroi , causes bakanae disease rice. Non‐thermal effectively inhibited growth G. nutrient medium reduced number fungal colony forming units (CFU) rice surface > 92% after 120 s exposure. Effective exposure times 50% (ET 50 ) 90% 90 control CFU were 9 76 s, respectively. Ten minutes seeds infested significantly development. No adverse effects detected seedling emergence height when non‐infested treated up 20 min. germinated grew similarly compared non‐treated seeds. This indicates had antifungal showed potential effective disinfection technique reduce contamination from surfaces without compromising health.