Biological Effects of High-Voltage Electric Field Treatment of Naked Oat Seeds

• Main Authors: Wenqian Xu, Zhiqing Song, Xinyu Luan, Changjiang Ding, Zhiyuan Cao, Xiaohong Ma
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: HVEF; naked oat seeds; hydrophilic; seed coat microstructure
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/9/18/3829

In order to study the mechanism of high-voltage electric field (HVEF) biotechnology, corona discharge produced by a multi-needle-plate HVEF was used to treat naked oat seeds, each treatment dose was divided into two groups, one group was covered with a petri dish cover, the other group was directly exposed to HVEF without a petri dish cover. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) results show that the etching degree of the uncovered group was more serious than that of the covered group, it indicates that ion wind etching has a greater impact on the micro-morphology of seed coat, being covered can effectively reduce the etching degree of discharge plasma on seed. Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) of the seed coat shows most of the HVEF treatment group can form a new absorption peak at 1740 cm^−1, which is closely related to the hydrophilicity of the seed. Comprehensive analysis shows that HVEF treatment can improve the hydrophilicity of seeds, whether they are covered or not. Being covered can reduce the degree of etching of the seed coat, but increase the hydrophilicity of the seed, indicating that the non-uniform electric field has a greater impact on the hydrophilicity of the seed. Our study showed that ion wind had an effect on the micro-morphology of seeds, but this effect didn’t translate into a macroscopic effect. This study provides ideas and experimental data support for the study of the biotechnological mechanism of HVEF.