Buckwheat seed treatment with electromagnetic field and cold plasma accelerates seedling growth and induces changes in radical scavenging activity of leaf extracts

Abstract

Buckwheat, traditional crop cultivated in many countries, is a rich source of vitamins, essential amino acids and phenolic compounds, which are responsible for many of the health benefits and antioxidant properties of this plant. We aimed to investigate the effects of pre-sowing seed treatment with radio-frequency electromagnetic field (EMF, 5-15 min) and cold plasma (CP, 2-7 min), on germination, seedling growth and radical scavenging activity of two buckwheat cultivars – ‘Nojai’ and ‘Vokiai’ (seeds were kindly provided by dr. D. Romanovska from Voke branch of Lithuanian Research centre for Agriculture and Forestry). Final germination percentage indicating seed viability in control and all treated groups in vitro and in substrate was about 100%. Germination tests in vitro only negligible effects of treatments on germination kinetics of both cultivars. CP and EMF effects on germination in substrate were different from their effects in vitro: both CP and EMF decreased germination rate of ‘Nojai’ (by 14 and 15% CP 2 min and EMF 15 min, respectively) while germination of ‘Vokiai’ was not affected. Despite suppressing effects on germination rates in substrate, CP and EMF treatments induced positive changes in morphometric parameters of seedlings grown for 6 weeks in the climatic chamber under controlled conditions. For both cultivars height and wet weight of seedlings, the average number of leaves per plant and the number of flowering plants in experimental groups grown from treated seeds was larger (up to 15, 33, 33 and 34%, respectively) in comparison to the corresponding control, while roots were longer only in ‘Vokiai’ cultivar plants from treated seeds groups (up to 14 %) compared to the control. [...]