Abstract
The legumes (Fabaceae family) are the second most important agricultural crop, both in terms of harvested area and total production. They are an important source of vegetable proteins and oils for human consumption. Non-thermal plasma (NTP) treatment is a new and effective method in surface microbial inactivation and seed stimulation useable in the agricultural and food industries. This review summarizes current information about characteristics of legume seeds and adult plants after NTP treatment in relation to the seed germination and seedling initial growth, surface microbial decontamination, seed wettability and metabolic activity in different plant growth stages. The information about 19 plant species in relation to the NTP treatment is summarized. Some important plant species as soybean (Glycine max), bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), mung bean (Vigna radiata), black gram (V. mungo), pea (Pisum sativum), lentil (Lens culinaris), peanut (Arachis hypogaea), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), and chickpea (Cicer aruetinum) are discussed. Likevise, some less common plant species i.g. blue lupine (Lupinus angustifolius), Egyptian clover (Trifolium alexandrinum), fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), and mimosa (Mimosa pudica, M. caesalpiniafolia) are mentioned too. Possible promising trends in the use of plasma as a seed pre-packaging technique, a reduction in phytotoxic diseases transmitted by seeds and the effect on reducing dormancy of hard seeds are also pointed out.
Highlights
Plasma, called the fourth state of matter, is a partially or fully ionized gas
This review provides a current overview of the effects of Non-thermal plasma (NTP) on species of the Fabaceae family
The text is divided into logical units, which range from influencing the surface of seeds to affecting whole plants or their products: surface seed and sprout decontamination, seed surface properties affection, seed germination, seedling initial growth, seedling metabolite activity affection, field production and quality crop yield, and miscellaneous applications
Summary
Plasma, called the fourth state of matter, is a partially or fully ionized gas. A distinction is made between thermal (high temperature, equilibrium) and non-thermal (cold, low temperature, non-equilibrium) plasma. The use of NTP has already been addressed by the authors in relation to wheat (Triticum aestivum) [10] and seeds that can be used as raw seed [34] In this communication, we aim to provide an overview of the rapidly growing amount of knowledge gained by scientific teams in testing the effect of NTP on plant seeds. The aim of this work was to search, analyze and synthesize contents of scientific articles dealing with the effect of NTP plasma Plants 2021, 10, x FOR PEER REVIEW on legumes. Sovcehrveiemw oaf FtaibcaceoaevspeercivesifeorwwhoichfthFeaefbfeactcoefaneons-thperemcaileplsasfmoar(NwTP)hich the effect of non-thermal plasma (NTP) Both microbial and toxin decontamination of seed surface and plant sprout were included. Mitra et al [37] showed a significant reduction of the initial natural microbial load
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