Germination enhancement of green bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L) by using non thermal argon plasma

Abstract

An attempt to enhance the germination of green bell pepper has been tried by using dry processing non thermal (cold) argon plasma treatment. As an emerging non thermal technology, cold plasma could be used to give a pretreatment to a thermal-sensitive material, such as pretreatment to seeds of bell pepper prior to be planted in soil to understand the effect of this dry process during the germination period. In this experiment, the used argon plasma was generated by flowing argon gas with the rate of 2 L/min through a positively charged of stainless pipe at a distance of 15 mm from aluminum plate electrode. With an applied voltage of 9.8 kV (peak-to-peak) electrical energy from a high voltage AC power supply, argon plasma irradiation was employed to the bell pepper seeds for a predetermined period of time as pretreatment to the seeds during pre-planting. It was found that the temperature of the plasma never exceeded 35°C during the plasma irradiation to assure that no thermal damage occurred to the seeds. It was also confirmed from this study that by giving non thermal plasma treatment for 30 minutes to the seeds may enhance the germination of the bell pepper plants up to 90% in stem length and almost 2.5 times in root length compared to the pepper without treatment.