Increment of nitrogen content in shallot seeds by corona glow discharge plasma irradiation

Abstract

Research on the application of corona glow discharge plasma to increase the nitrogen content on shallot seeds has been done. This study aims to determine the relationship between the irradiation parameters to the amount of nitrogen contained in treated shallot. Corona glow discharge plasma was generated using a plasma reactor with multiple points to the plane configuration, with the number of point electrode is 837 points. The characteristics of current-voltage of reactor circuit were carried out; by varying the distance between electrodes from 1 to 4 cm; to determine the value of ion mobility. Shallot seeds were irradiated at an optimum radiation distance of 3 cm, a voltage of 14 kV, current of 500 μA, and varying irradiation time of 0, 15, and 30 minutes. The characteristic result without sample at the distance of 3 cm yielded the highest mobility of 1.94×10−7 cm/v.s, while with sample yielded of 9.98×10−4 cm/v.s. The proximate test results at shallot seeds irradiated for 15 minutes showed the highest nitrogen content of 2.31%, higher than that of a control sample of 2.27%. Furthermore, the water content in irradiated samples decreased with increasing radiation time, with the lowest water content achieved in the 30 minutes irradiated sample of 86% compared to 86.8% in the control samples.