Zayndu is announcing the launch of S-Prime, a package of priming protocols for its ActivatedAir plasma seed priming system dedicated to spinach crops. S-Prime is the first of a range of crop-optimised protocols set to be rolled out by the company. They are designed to bring the benefits of on-site priming to a broader market, says Ralph Weir, Zayndu CEO.
“Our rapid growth over the last 12 months has given our plant science team vast exposure to various CEA growing systems and varieties,” explains Ralph. “In each case, we optimised ActivatedAir priming to suit the customer’s varieties and growing system.
“This has created a large library of treatments that cover most crops and growing systems, which we can now deploy as pre-optimised packages, giving customers a quick start.”
Spinach is the first crop to receive this focus, with the S-Prime package for on-site priming. The initial version of S-Prime includes treatments for spinach varieties. The complete list spans over a dozen of the most popular genetics, making it extremely easy to add additional varieties as they become available. Ralph says these can be uploaded to a grower’s machine using Zayndu’s award-winning SeedCloud system.
Ralph adds: “Zayndu increases grower profitability through bigger yields and shorter crop cycles with its plasma seed priming. The cold plasma system deployed to a grower’s facility is only part of this; the treatment protocols extract the maximum value out of the seeds for a grower.”
Zayndu’s head of science, Dr Alberto Campanaro, explains that spinach was the logical first crop to adopt this approach because of the extremely high demand from growers trying to satisfy the increasing market requirement.
“Spinach is a challenging crop to germinate evenly, so it’s often one of the first crops we are asked to improve for a new customer,” says Alberto. “Each variety responds slightly differently to ActivatedAir priming due to physiological differences between varieties.
“For each variety, we have fine-tuned the plasma priming process to alter the composition of the ActivatedAir applied to cater to these differences.
“Zayndu now has a catalogue of specific pre-programmed settings for different spinach varieties, which we have packaged together as S-Prime. Future packages are likely to include multiple crops. For example, to address baby-leaf salad, we will include multiple crops and varieties.”
“Growers don’t need to continue struggling with spinach germination – we’ve cracked it with S-Prime. Many customers report a 15% – 24% yield increase for ActivatedAir-treated spinach crops.”
How 80 Acres Farms has increased spinach germination with ActivatedAir
80 Acres engaged in a 3-month deployment optimisation process with ActivatedAir. During that time, Zayndu and 80 Acres worked together to create treatment protocols suited to their specific crop varieties and growing system.
80 Acres Farms head grower Megan Gambrill explains: “In CEA you need consistent germination to fill every square inch. So, we need to make sure all the crops are viable and growing at the same rate.
“A lot of spinach has different germination rates, so you might have one batch that comes in with 80% germination or one with 90% germination. You might have one with a 60% germination rate. We want all of them to achieve 90% or above. With ActivatedAir, spinach germination is now consistently over 90%, while sorrel germination rates doubled.”
“I also like that ActivatedAir can be used on other seeds. I want to improve growth rates on all crops and the published research showed I could achieve that,” concludes Megan.
What spinach varieties are initially available in the S-Prime package?
| Variety | Breeder / Supplier |
| Bonnethead | Rijk Zwaan |
| Flamingo | Johnny Seeds |
| Gerenuk | Rijk Zwaan |
| Longhorn | Enza Zaden |
| Platypus | Rijk Zwaan |
| Sioux (large and small) | Pop Vriend |
| SunAngel | Rijk Zwaan |
| Timberwolf | Rijk Zwaan |
About Zayndu:
Optimising plant performance with ActivatedAirTM
Zayndu’s seed treatment and priming process harnesses cold plasma to create ActivatedAirTM – a powerful plant stimulant. Used as a seed priming process, it creates vigorous, healthy plants with increased disease resistance, yet it uses no artificial chemicals, leaves no residues, and is a completely dry process.
The company was established in 2019 to exploit Professor Felipe Iza’s groundbreaking work on cold plasma. Zayndu is now the world leader in applying cold plasma technology onto seeds, with a wealth of experience in boosting the health, vitality and yield of hundreds of different crop types.
The initial concept was simple: plasma is a known, powerful disinfectant with multiple applications across biology. Academic research has shown for decades that plasma has a beneficial effect on seeds. Simultaneously, there was a growing unmet demand for new seed treatments to reduce horticulture’s reliance on chemicals. So why was there no company that offered a commercially viable product to service the market?
The answer lies in plasma physics. Treating seeds with plasma is hugely challenging. It is easy to prove concepts in a laboratory, but doing it consistently and reliably in a production environment is far more difficult.
It took years of research by Zayndu’s academic founders – and our own plasma physics and engineering teams – to build plasma generation systems that could operate in the high dust, high humidity environments associated with seeds.
The hard work paid off. With patents registered globally, Zayndu’s ActivatedAir™ systems are now deployed across three continents – with installations in North America, the EU, the UK and the Gulf region. This is just the beginning of cold plasma in agriculture. Our plans include higher-capacity machines for more field crops and extending the territories where we can support ActivatedAir™ systems worldwide.