Surface chemistry and germination improvement of Quinoa seeds subjected to plasma activation.

ABSTRACT: Plasma treatment is recognized as a suitable technology to improve germination efficiency of numerous seeds. In this work Quinoa seeds have been subjected to air plasma treatments both at atmospheric and low pressure and improvements found in germination rate and percentage of success. Seed water uptake by exposure to water vapor, although slightly greater for plasma treated seeds, did not justify the observed germination improvement. To identify other possible factors contributing to germination, the chemical changes experienced by outer parts of the seed upon plasma exposure have been investigated by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX). XPS revealed that the outer layers of the Quinoa plasma treated seeds were highly oxidized and appeared enr

SUBMITTER: Gomez-Ramirez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5517418 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature