How to Improve Seed Germination with ActivatedAir

Efficient crop production in Controlled Environment Agriculture relies on planting healthy seeds, their subsequent germination, and vigour. ActivatedAir delivers on all three of these parameters, as we will explore.

There are technologies and methods being explored to support this first stage of plant/crop growth for promoting effective, reliable germination, i.e., seed priming [2]. Seed priming is the method of managing seeds and their environment to promote efficient, synchronised germination [3], which is important to ensure more reliable and consistent yields down the line.

A relatively recent seed priming method involves the use of plasma – a branch of Plasma Agriculture. 

Plasma, simply, is the fourth fundamental state of matter (along with gasses, solids and liquids); an ionised gas that is influenced by electromagnetic fields, composed of ions, radicles, electrons, atoms and molecules (Pankaj et al., 2018). Although sounding complex, it is common in nature, with examples such as the Aurora Borealis and lightning (see later). Plasma Agriculture, therefore, is the practice of utilising plasma in farming and agricultural processes, with a specific focus on cold plasma (meaning plasma operating at room temperature).

“We have witnessed incredible seed priming effects when exposing seeds to ActivatedAir.“

Zayndu’s technology harnesses these same properties of lightning and incorporates this into a seed treatment process. With a small amount of electricity and normal air, molecules are excited, rearranged and ionised to produce a mixture of Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species (RONS) – termed ActivatedAir. Overall, we have witnessed incredible seed-priming effects when exposing seeds to ActivatedAir; here’s how…

Zayndu’s ActivatedAir

Zayndu’s ActivatedAir treatment primes seeds via two major mechanisms: increased permeability of the seeds and hormone signalling modulation.

Seed Coat Permeability

The seed coat is made up of 4 layers: cuticle, epidermis, hypodermis and parenchyma. One of the various roles the seed coat performs is water intake regulation (Souza et al., 2001 -126 tech 2). 

Alterations to seed coat morphologies have been noted proceeding with the use of various types of plasma treatments – namely the physical etching and eroding of superficial coat layers, along with observations of increased polar groups at the seed surface – which contribute to increased wettability, water uptake and hydrophilicity respectively (Priatama et al., 2022). 

Many seed species have their outer seed coat layer covered with hydrophobic waxy cuticles, typically being a mixture of long-chain, unbranched hydrocarbons with support from the biopolymer cutin (Holc et al., 2021). Degradation of this layer increases water permeability. Increased water uptake, in turn, leads to a faster and more efficient embryo rehydration and, therefore quicker germination (Holc et al., 2021).

Effect on Endogenous Seed Hormone Balance

ROS are crucial signalling molecules for germination, controlling or dictating the internal levels of many important phytohormones. Abscisic Acid (ABA) and Gibberellic acid (GA) are the two main regulators of intrinsically controlled germination. ABA is the main hormone that acts as a germination repressor, while GA promotes germination processes (Ranieri et al., 2021). They are connected to one another by an inverse correlation relationship – if one of the two spikes up, the other gets repressed. Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species are inhibitors of ABA, and thus promoters of GA.

“External third-party trials are key to validate our impressive technology.“

ROS stimulate the activity of intracellular enzymes that degrade abscisic acid, therefore promoting GA accumulation (Liu et al., 2010). This effect recreates the perfect hormonal landscape to trigger a fast and effective germination.

At the cellular level, however, during germination, it has been demonstrated that ROS was first found within the cytoplasm, then the nucleus and finally the cell wall – postulating the idea that ROS are involved in many crucial functions such as cytoplasmic signalling, genetic regulation and finally cell wall loosening allowing for elongation all of which being important steps for germination/plant growth to occur (Bailly et al., 2019).

ActivatedAir Seed Germination Trial

To investigate the effect of Zayndu’s ActivatedAir technology, we treated and sent seeds to a third party for an independent evaluation.

In this case, the trial has been performed at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) in the UK. It has been demonstrated in this trial that ActivatedAir exposure leads to increased seed germination: in the case shown below the treated seeds reach 100% germination one day earlier compared to the untreated control.

External third-party trials are key to validate our impressive technology.

If you want to learn more about how Zayndu’s ActivatedAir system can improve your germination rates, email us at info@zayndu.com. Or, find out if you’re eligible for the free trial programme here.

References

[1] Adhikari B, Adhikari M, Park G. The effects of plasma on plant growth, development, and sustainability. Applied Sciences. 2020 Aug 31;10(17):6045.

[2] Barjasteh A, Lamichhane P, Dehghani Z, Kaushik N, Gupta R, Choi EH, Kaushik NK. Recent progress of non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma for seed germination and plant development: current scenario and future landscape. Journal of Plant Growth Regulation. 2023 Sep;42(9):5417-32.

[3] Singh H, Jassal RK, Kang JS, Sandhu SS, Kang H, Grewal K. Seed priming techniques in field crops-A review. Agricultural Reviews. 2015;36(4):251-64.

[4] Pankaj SK, Wan Z, Keener KM. Effects of cold plasma on food quality: A review. Foods. 2018 Jan 1;7(1):4.

[5] Ranieri P, Sponsel N, Kizer J, Rojas-Pierce M, Hernandez R, Gatiboni L, Grunden A, Stapelmann K. Plasma Agriculture: review from the perspective of the plant and its ecosystem. Plasma Process and Polymers (2020)

[6] Liu Y., Shi L., Ye N., Liu R., Jia W., Zhang J. (2009). Nitric oxide-induced rapid decrease of abscisic acid concentration is required in breaking seed dormancy in Arabidopsis. New Phytologist. 183 1030–1042

Written by: Dr Alberto Campanaro, Sam Gee and Sam Eates