Trends in Food Science & Technology 86 (2019) 95–108

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Trends in Food Science & Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tifs

Review

Emerging technology applications for improving seed germination T

E.J. Rifna, K. Ratish Ramanan, R. Mahendran ∗

Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT), Pudukkottai Road, Thanjavur, India

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Background: Food security is an important alarming issue across the globe and seed is an important structure to
Seed germination maintain the production capacity of plants. With the fast development of urbanization and globalization, the
Growth characteristics prevailing way to secure food is to adopt new technologies that improve grain yield and germination rate by
Ultrasound maintaining the crop quality. The novel technology had been effectively used in many food processing opera-
Cold plasma
tions such as gelation, extraction, coagulation, surface modification, emulsification, disinfection etc from earlier
Plasma activated water
times. However, it has been also successfully employed as an efficient technique for breaking dormancy and
improving the germination characteristics of seeds.
Scope and approach: In this review, we aimed to study the effects of well known novel technologies such as high
pressure processing, pulsed electric field, ultrasound, ozone processing, ultraviolet, magnetic field, microwave
radiation, non-thermal plasma, electrolyzed oxidizing water, and plasma activated water on germination and
growth characteristics of different species of seeds. The reasons for the constructive and destructive impact of
these technologies on germination rate had also been discussed.
Key findings and conclusion: As an outcome of this review, of the discussed technologies all, have proven to show
enhancement in germination and growth rate. Due to the diversity and complexity of seeds along with the
differences in features of these emerging technologies, the quality of seed and the operating conditions are the
key elements to be focused to increase efficiency in germination yield.

1. Introduction
World food grain production rate was about 2547.1 million metric
tons, while the consumption reached even higher in accordance with
the report of United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),
in the year 2016. This has created fears on whether our agricultural
lands will be able to feed its population in short term. Whereas in long
term, it has been anticipated that the world needs to increase its pro-
duction further, to feed a population of 9 billion by 2050. Therefore,
food security has become an important alarming issue across the globe.
With the fast development of urbanization and industrialization, the
dominant way to secure food safety is by improving yield of grain and
germination along with the quality of crops in outlook of the actuality
that cultivatable lands are hard to increase (Edmondson, Davies,
Gaston, & Leake, 2014) and the natural resources are depleting at a
rapid rate.
The seed has the major independent structure, responsible for next
generation of plants, maintaining the germplasm, improving species
diversity and production capacity (Sharififar, Nazari, & Asghari, 2015).
By definition, germination involves those processes which initiate with
the uptake of water by the inactive dry seed and conclude with the
development of the embryonic axis (Bewley & Black, 1994). Hence,
seed germination is a very important stage of plant life and is influenced
by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The most important factors for
germination include water, temperature, oxygen, and light (Raven,
Evert, & Eichhorn, 2005, p. 639). During favorable condition seed
germination and seed establishment takes place quickly. Whereas,
during extreme condition an intrinsic block to germination exists
called, dormancy; is a mechanism that slows down germination during
unsuitable ecological condition, when the chance of sustenance of
seedling is very short (Bewley, Black, & Halmer, 2006). Hence, for the
seed to start the action of germination the state of dormancy has to be
shaken. The simplest method employed to demolish the dormancy is
controlling the salinity, humidity, and temperature of the environment
in which seeds are kept initially (Baskin & Baskin, 1998). But in this
method, though germination takes well at the initial stage when the
nursery seedlings are transferred to actual field condition they showed a
reduced growth rate. Another method applied to overcome the period
of dormancy is the alteration of plant hormones like abscisic acid and
gibberellic acid artificially, by inducing some other hormone (Sozzi &
Chiesa, 1995). Seed stratification and scarification are employed to
remove the dormancy period and hence improved the germination.

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mahendran@iifpt.edu.in (R. Mahendran).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2019.02.029
Received 16 December 2017; Received in revised form 26 January 2019; Accepted 6 February 2019
Available online 08 February 2019
0924-2244/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
E.J. Rifna, et al.
Irrigation is also a significant parameter that controls the level of ger-
mination. But in the current scenario, since water is a scarce resource,
the availability of water to the required levels in fields along with the
quality of water used is a matter of concern. The most common method
used to enhance germination is through the use of fertilizers or pesti-
cides (Ramteke, Narwade, Gurav, Chavan, & Wandre, 2013). It was
observed that common fertilizers like phosphate, diammonium, urea,
and many other pesticides were used to increase seed germination
yield. Though the fertilizer application increased the yield to a great
extent their adverse effects on the environment and living organisms
remain a major concern.
The germination power and growth yield of agricultural seeds are
enhanced by application of chemical and physical methods that lead to
structural damage, genetic dissimilarity in seeds to great extent and
cause negative effects to life and nature. An effort has been taken up by
the research community to check the impact of the application of some
novel technologies on seed germination and growth rate (Harris et al.,
2001). The novel technologies discussed in this review paper has been
used in many mass transfer processes such as in gelation, extraction,
and coagulation etc. However, in recent years, these technologies have
also broadly been applied as an efficient technique for breaking dor-
mancy and improving the germination characteristics of seeds. Hence,
the application of these novel technologies will represent a good score
for improving the yield of agricultural production. These emerging
techniques offer several other advantages over time-honored chemical
and physical treatments. First, the amount of pesticides is reduced, thus
decreasing negative impact on the environment and living organisms.
Second, the very low genetic deviation is caused in seeds. Another
benefit is that these novel techniques can also be employed on seed
even during storage, for disinfection prior to sowing (Joshi, Mahendran,
Alagusundaram, Norton, & Tiwari, 2013).
The main objective of this review paper is to summarize the con-
tribution of novel technologies namely: high pressure processing,
pulsed electric field, ultrasound, ozone processing, ultraviolet, mag-
netic field, microwave radiation, non-thermal plasma, electrolyzed
oxidizing water, and plasma activated water on germination rate,
growth rate, growth characteristics and yield of seed. The reasons for
the positive and negative impact of these technologies and their me-
chanism of action on seeds are presented in Fig. 1.
2. High pressure processing (HPP)
High pressure processing is one of the food processing technology
which improves quality and safety of food at both solid and liquid
condition. It is carried out at ambient temperature and at very high
pressures of range 300–800 MPa for about 3–5 min, using a transmitting
fluid (typically water). HPP in food application is governed by two
relevant scientific laws. The first is Le Chatelier's principle, which states
that as the pressure of a system in equilibrium is altered it tends to come
back to the state of stability by decreasing the volume (Pauling, 1964).
Secondly, the Isostatic principle which explains that pressure is im-
parted throughout the product instantaneously and equally (Olsson,
1995). It means that during HPP treatment food samples are subjected
to equal pressure and they regain its unique actual geometry once
pressure applied is released. HPP is employed in food processing in a
wider angle (Altuner, Alpas, Erdem, & Bozoglu, 2006) and it's appli-
cation was also found to be efficient in inactivating enzymes present in
foods (Oey, Lille, Van Loey, & Hendrickx, 2008) improving organoleptic
properties, product reformation and product forming (Domitrovic,
Fernandes, Boy-Marcotte, & Kurtenbach, 2006). Interestingly, the in-
fluence of HPP on germination characteristics of seeds has also been
studied.
In a research on the impact of HPP treatment on alfalfa seed, seeds
treated for twomin (at 475 MPa) attained a sprouting rate of only 28%
whereas the control seeds achieved a sprout rate of 95% (Ariefdjohan
et al., 2004). The important factor for the retardation of germination
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Trends in Food Science & Technology 86 (2019) 95–108
was the cracks that developed in seeds which ultimately resulted in
breakage in seeds and coats due to pressure application. In another
study, on three seeds, broccoli, turnip leaf and potherb mustard, Mori,
Yokota, and Ono (2012) studied the level of HPP treatment on germi-
nation percentage of seeds. 40%, 58%, and 83% was the level of ger-
mination in treated broccoli, turnip leaf and potherb mustard after the
pressure treatment compared to the 58%, 83% and 100% of control
respectively. Another work was performed on garden cress seedlings by
İşlek, Altuner, Çeter, and Alpas (2013) showing that HPP treatment at
an intensity higher and lower than 300 MPa of pressure damaged the
embryo reducing the rate of germination. Alexandre, Carvalho, and
Saraiva (2014) experimented the pressure treatment effect (50 MPa for
10 min) on green pea seeds at different imbibition times (0, 12 and
36 h) and found that shorter imbibition times led to a low percent of
germination in both control and HPP treated seed samples. At zero-hour
imbibition only one percentage of exposed seed germinated, while
germination rate was 47% for untreated green gram seeds. This was
explained as the pressure treatment was given to seeds the outer coat
got separated due to the compactness of dry seeds. In another work,
HPP treatment on green gram seeds and its effect on the rate of ger-
mination (Peñas, Gómez, Frías, & Vidal-Valverde, 2010). It was found
that the increase in pressure intensity decreases the germination power
of the seed. However, in the experiment of Saraiva and Rodrigues
(2011) this negative impact of pressure treatment (100 MPa) on ger-
mination rate of seeds was considered as beneficial in controlling the
sprouts on tubers of potato. The sprout formation rate on treated potato
tubers was 65% lower than control, as the application of HPP treatment
on tubers resulted in increasing their Polyphenol peroxidase (PPO)
activity. It is clearly observed that the decline in germination was sig-
nificantly correlated to elevating pressure level and exposure time
which inhibited the metabolic and physiological process involved in
sprout development.
3. Pulsed electric field processing (PEF)
PEF treatment involves the process of exposing the food materials
sandwiched among two electrodes to short pulses (μs) at very high
voltages (kV/cm). In common, the treatment systems of PEF consist of
treatment chamber, fluid handling system, pulse generator, and mon-
itoring system (Zhang, Barbosa-Cánovas, & Swanson, 1995). When the
electric field is employed for few microseconds it changes the basic cell
structure and breaks down the membrane of the cell. This process is
known as electroporation and is an important theory explaining the PEF
process. In the field of microbial and plant genetics, infusion of foreign
materials into and within the cell is conducted by passing electric field
lines to cells which cause electroporation in cellular membrane
(Neumann, 1996; Zimmermann, 1996). PEF processing has found an
enormous application like pre-treatment step in preceding to dehy-
dration, extraction which improves the rate of mass transfer, substitute
for conventional disintegration method like grinding and maintenance
of liquid media. Among the rising technologies, PEF application exists
to be the key method that is undergoing a thorough technical assess-
ment. As a result, now researchers have explored the positive impact of
PEF on germination ability of seeds.
Dymek et al. (2012) experimented the PEF effect on germination
level of barley seeds and studied its metabolic responses. It has been
reported that no damage occurred in the overall rate of metabolic ac-
tivity of barley on treatment with PEF. This was explained as PEF
treatment resulted in the opening of the cavities within plasma mem-
brane which increased the level of inward and outward movement of
polar molecules. Mahajan and Pandey (2014) explored the impact of
field strength of 1300 V for an exposure period of 15 min on chickpea
seeds and evaluated its germination properties. It was studied that in-
side the seed huge amount of electric dipoles gets developed which line
up themselves in the presence of electric field. Water is also a dipole
and causes dipole-dipole interaction thus absorb more water, improving
E.J. Rifna, et al.
Fig. 1. The causes for profits and limitations of the effect of novel technologies on seed germination and growth characteristics.
germination. Kiatgamjorn, Khan-ngern, and Nitta (2002) studied the
influence of electric field intensity at 20 kV/m on growing of bean
sprout. Experimental results revealed that the sprouts in the horizontal
direction of the field had a reduced level of germination rate than those
exposed to the vertical direction of the field due to the difference in
dipole alignment. Impact of PEF on the quality of flaxseed, Pozeliene
(2001) found a typical increase in the germination from 2 to 13% was
owing to the stimulating effect produced by the electric field. Increased
shoot and root length of Iranian alfalfa seeds by PEF treatment at 7 kV/
m in contrast to unexposed sample were reported by Rezaei-Zarchi,
Imani, Mehrjerdi, and Mohebbifar (2012). Songnuan and Kirawanich
(2011) considered the changes in physiological development in Arabi-
dopsis thaliana after treatment with high-intensity nanosecond PEF and
reported that at 5 kV/cm field strength there was an enhancement in
germination index and the average area of leaf increased by 65% than
control. Molamofrad, Lotfi, Khazaei, Tavakkol-Afshari, and Shaiegani-
Akmal (2013) studied the influence of electric field on germination and
few important growth measurements of onion seeds (Allium cepa) and
found that maximum enhancement in germination percentage and
height of seedling was at 9 kV/cm because of physiological variation in
the seed owing to applied PEF treatment that resulted in better ab-
sorption of water by seeds. In another work on the influence of elevated
voltage at the field of 30 kV/cm with an exposure period of 30 s,
Patwardhan and Gandhare (2013) demonstrated the percentage of
germination in tomato seeds. It has been viewed that 100% of PEF
exposed samples germinated whereas only 76% of control germinated.
In broad, PEF treatment showed a positive impact on increasing the
productivity of seed and its germination power. The dipole-dipole in-
teraction introduced by an applied electric field, causing physiological
changes in seeds aids in faster respiration, higher water absorption,
increased photosynthetic level resulting in an increase of the biological
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Trends in Food Science & Technology 86 (2019) 95–108
ability of seed.
4. Ultrasound (US)
The term “ultrasound” describes to the pressure waves of fre-
quencies over the range 20 kHz. The power ultrasound used in food
treatment comprises sound waves of frequencies ranging from 20 to
100 kHz and sound intensity of 10–1000 W/cm2 (Piyasena, Mohareb, &
McKellar, 2003). The use of these pressure waves is often combined
with added parameters like temperature, pressure and chemical treat-
ment at moderate intensities (Raso, Palop, Pagan, & Condón, 1998).
During the process of sonication, sound waves get conveyed as a series
of rarefaction and compression cycles disturbing the molecules present
within the liquid (Soria & Villamiel, 2010). In these zones of varying
pressure, cavitation and gas bubbles get developed. The influence of
ultrasound is attributed to the cavitation process which causes micro-
streaming and enhances the transfer of heat and mass. This technique
has been a very capable tool for, homogenization, emulsification, ex-
traction, dewatering, crystallization, low-temperature pasteurization,
activation of enzymes, degassing, defoaming, particle-size reduction
and changing viscosity (Chandrapala, Oliver, Kentish, & Ashokkumar,
2013; Patist & Bates, 2008). Also, ultrasound assisted techniques are
used in dispersive micro solid phase extraction and detection of
bioactive components from plants (Asfaram, Arabi, Ostovan, Sadeghi, &
Ghaedi, 2018; Asfaram, Ghaedi, Javadian, & Goudarzi, 2018; Asfaram,
Goudarzi, Sadeghi, Panahi, & Salehpour, 2019; Dil, Ghaedi, Asfaram, &
Goudarzi, 2015). The technology of ultrasound generation was also
efficiently used for raising the rate of germination and growth para-
meters of seeds.
Recently, a number of researches have revealed the positive impact
of ultrasound application on seed germination percentage and growth.
E.J. Rifna, et al.
In research on the use of longitudinal ultrasonic waves as a preparatory
method for enhancing and growth parameters of barley seed,
Yaldagard, Mortazavi, and Tabatabaie (2008) found that treated seeds
at ultrasonic energy of 460 W reduced the period of germination by
30–45% compared to control seeds. In another work on increasing
germination performance of sesame by 20 kHz ultrasonic device, sam-
ples exposed to treatment duration of 10 and 20 min showed an in-
creased level of germination (Shekari, Mustafavi, & Abbasi, 2015). This
was explained by fissures created on the protective coating surrounding
the pericarp and seed after the treatment, rising seedling moisture.
Moreover, it is shown that treatment of green pea seeds to the ultra-
sonic power input of 40 kHz at a temperature of 25 °C for 1 min, in-
creased the rate of germination from 85% to 98.1% (Chiu & Sung,
2014). Another experiment was carried out on Bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus
corniculatus L.) seeds to ultrasound waves by Toth (2012) and reported
that treated large sized seed showed germination rate of 81.85% in
contrast to the 71% of control. The influence of power ultrasonic waves
on sunflower seeds, Machikowa, Kulrattanarak, and Wonprasaid (2013)
found that largest percentage of germination of sunflower seeds was
95% when exposed to ultrasound for a period of 5–20 min at the
strength of 40 and 60 kHz whereas the untreated samples had less
germination percentage.
In a research work on crops: chickpea, pepper, watermelon and
wheat, Goussous, Samarah, Alqudah, and Othman (2010) investigated
the outcome of treatment on growth parameters at a frequency of
40 kHz. The germination rate of watermelon, wheat, and chickpea was
increased by 2%, 2% and 36% respectively, on comparing with control
seeds. But the seeds of pepper had a harmful impact after sonication
treatment and the germination level decreased by 19%. Similar results
on germination level after sonication treatment was reported on fennel
seeds, it showed that ultrasonic wave treatment of fennel seeds leads to
a decrease of 30.5% in the germination rate (Nazari, Sharififar, &
Asghari, 2014). Sharififar et al. (2015) investigated the response of
sonication on germination of medicinal species; big saltbush, caper
beans, and cumin. Sonication increased germination up to 28%, 35.7%,
36% respectively, on treated seeds with respect to untreated seeds.
Wang et al. (2012) reported that the germination level of switchgrass
increased from 66.9% to 90.1% after ultrasonication. In general, it can
be established that sonication treatment had a propounding impact on
the level of germination rate. A probable justification for this could be
that the mechanical effects produced by ultrasonication created nu-
merous small holes on the coating, fissures on pericarp which resulted
in a notable rise in the moisture of seedlings. The dominance of soni-
cation may be because of the elevated holding capacity and high por-
osity, which increases the oxygen availability.
5. Ozone processing
Ozone (O3) is a molecule that exists in gaseous state and is produced
from the oxygen molecule due to the combined effect of ultraviolet rays
and electric discharges in the atmosphere. It possesses a half-life of
about 12 h in the gaseous phase and 20–25 min in aqueous form and
hence is highly unstable. This instability causes the ozone gas to de-
compose violently at a very high temperature (Streng, 1961). Hence
low concentration of ozone is used at commercial scale. Ozone being a
powerful oxidizer has found a broad application in agriculture and food
sector. It sounds to be a useful disinfectant and has the distinctive
ability to demolish toxic industrial impurities, and inactivate the bio-
logical contaminants through the double bond oxidation (Bruice,
2006). On seed and grain surface it has been widely used for the de-
gradation of mycotoxins (McKenzie et al., 1997), aflatoxin (Proctor,
Ahmedna, Kumar, & Goktepe, 2004) and fungus (Kells, Mason, Maier, &
Woloshuk, 2001). Ozone is well applied for surface treatment of hor-
ticultural crops and an effective source for disinfection of water in
processing plants (Khadre, Yousef, & Kim, 2001). In horticultural pro-
duce, ozone has been widely employed for the removal of ethylene and
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Trends in Food Science & Technology 86 (2019) 95–108
furthermore for the antimicrobial purpose (Karaca & Velioglu, 2007). In
paddy, ozone is flushed to remove the off-odors during storage. How-
ever, the impact of low levels of ozone treatment revealed a good effect
on seed germination.
Through an experiment, germination kinetics of corn seed after
ozone treatment was researched by Violleau, Hadjeba, Albet, Cazalis,
and Surel (2008). Ozone treatment was carried on seeds at a flow rate of
0.55 m3/h and the results revealed that germination percentage of
controls were 22.7, 47.6 and 80.6%, respectively, following 3, 4 and 5
days of germination test. The higher rate of germination was exhibited
in all treated samples compared to the control. Similarly, Sudhakar,
Nagendra-Prasad, Mohan, and Murugesan (2008) assessed the effect of
ozone treatment in dormancy alleviation of tomato seed. It was found
that germination increased by 95% than control. It was due to reduced
level of abscisic acid (a plant hormone) level in ozone exposed seeds.
Germination parameters of beans, corn, sunflower and barley seeds
after ozone gas treatment were enhanced (Yvin & Coste, 1997). In
contradiction to the previous works, Wu, Doan, and Cuenca (2006)
revealed that germination rate in wheat seeds got significantly con-
densed after a long period of treatment with ozone. Hence, it is to be
generalized that reduced level of ozone application always showed a
good impact on germination kinetics of seeds because ozone breaches
the dormancy in advance which is related to the reduced level of ab-
scisic acid in ozone exposed seeds and on other side subjection to large
period retarded the seed germination rate.
6. UV light
Ultraviolet (UV) is an electromagnetic light radiation which is
generated from the sun or light source and is imperceptible to the
human eye. UV light falls between the wavelength of range
100–400 nm. It is further subcategorized into four bands: UV-A from
315 to 400 nm; UV-B from 280 to 315 nm; UV-C from 200 to 280 nm
and the vacuum UV from 100 to 200 nm. The UV light is studied to have
a broad application in the food industry. It has wide antimicrobial ac-
tion with the power to inactivate viruses (Eischeid, Meyer, & Linden,
2009), parasite spores (Hijnen, Beerendonk, & Medema, 2006), vege-
tative bacteria, various species of yeasts, conidia and bacterial spores
(Gómez-López, Devlieghere, Bonduelle, & Debevere, 2005). Similarly, it
has found a good application for the decontamination of equipment
surfaces, foods, liquid mediums and water industry (Hijnen et al.,
2006). However, UV light possessed to have a harmful impact on the
biochemical and physiological processes in plants like gas-exchange in
leaves, water exchange rate and in enzyme activity (Stoeva, Zlatev, &
Bineva, 2001). Later works were steered to find the effect of UV
treatment on growth parameters of seed and its rate of growth.
UV-C radiations are non-ionizing and have got the germicidal
property to inactivate viral, bacterial and protozoan or other micro-
organisms effectively. It pierces apparently into the tissues, which
sustains its possibility as a germicidal agent. In a study, the outcome of
UV-C irradiation on seedling growth, the germination rate of
Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) and productivity level were experi-
mented by Neelamegam and Sutha (2015). The results elucidated that
irradiation to UV-C for a period of 1 h improved the germination per-
centage by 83.3% and produced a notable elevation in the vigor of
seeds and production percentage of biomass as estimated with the
control. The UV-C treatment for seed at 3.6 kJ/m2 accelerated the
quality and growth level of cabbage under glasshouse condition (Brown
et al., 2001). A research work in lettuce seeds at a dosage level of
3.42 kJ/m2, the influence of UV-C on treatment on pre-sowing was
experimented by Ouhibi et al. (2014). It was explained that the treated
seeds were able to prevail over the problem of extreme salinity owing to
the increased free radical scavenging activity identified in the tissues of
leaves. Hamid and Jawaid (2011) studied the impact of pre-treatment
by both UV-C and UV-A radiation on mung beans. The result revealed
that pre-treatment for 6 h improved the germination to 100% in UV-A
E.J. Rifna, et al.
treated and to 85% in UV-C treated seeds in contrast to 80% of the
control. This was explained with the fact that photons of UV are more
vigorous than visible light and had a strong impact on plant surface cell
causing the seed outer coat to break easily and enhance germination.
UV-B radiation from the sun has proven to possess a harmful impact
on plant physiology which includes DNA and protein damage, mem-
brane injury etc. However, the exposure to UV-B radiation on germi-
nation percentage of seeds was studied and it marked a depressing
impact on the rate of germination. In another work on soybean, the
growth characteristics were investigated under high UV-B radiation and
found that exposure to UV-B radiation reduced the cotyledon cell
number decreasing the dry weight, plant length of individual stem and
the value of yield per plant (Liu, Liu, Li, & Herbert, 2013). A similar
result was observed in the work of Peykarestan and Seify (2012) on the
red bean that ultraviolet light was energetically capable of disrupting
proteins and reducing the sprouting rate. The reduced growth level in
the bent grasses after treatment to UV-B light has been worked earlier
by Schmidt and Zhang (2001). A similar result was also established on
germination characteristics and growth rate of cool season grasses
when exposed to wavelength under UV-B (Nangle, 2012). The result of
UV-B irradiation on seed germination rate, development and growth
were investigated on mash-bean by Shaukat, Farooq, Siddiqui, and
Zaidi (2013) and no modification in germination rate was reported after
UV-B treatment. Also, a decline in measured length of shoot and root
was estimated in treated samples in reference to the controls.
7. Magnetic field
The area around a magnet, where the force that is capable of
magnetizing surrounding body exist is called a magnetic field. It exists
around electric current, varying electric fields, and magnetic dipoles. It
was when a U.S. patent was granted to Hofmann, the first proposal of
use of magnetic force lines in food preservation as a non-thermal
technology was introduced (Hofmann, 1985). Seed germination was
affected by two levels of field lines namely electromagnetic field ex-
erted by the electrically charged object and static magnetic field (Baby,
Narayanaswamy, & Anand, 2011).
In an experiment, Afzal et al. (2012) researched the positive impact
of magnetism at 100 mT on improving early growth, germination rate
and biochemical parameters on seeds of French marigold. This was
because the seeds after exposure to magnetic field lines showed higher
levels of α-amylase activity which improved germination. Another
study was performed to check the strength of magnetic field of 15 μT on
seeds of Quercus suber and found that measured parameters like the
length of hypocotyls and epicotyl, germination rate and biomass of
seeds all improved at a low-frequency magnetic field (Celestino, Picazo,
& Toribio, 2000). Through another experimental investigation, mag-
netic fields effect at 100 μT on broad bean showed to improve the
growth of treated beans (Rajendra et al., 2005). Magnetic field's effect
was also found on tomato seeds by inducing field of 100 mT for 10 min
and 170 mT for 3 min (De Souza et al., 2006). Treated seeds at both
conditions showed enhancement in growth rate, biomass, leaf area and
increased resistance to biotic stresses. Vashisth and Nagarajan (2010)
studied the change in growth parameter of seeds of sunflower on ex-
posure to the magnetizing field from 50 to 250 mT and found that
germination rate enhanced by 5–11% than controls. In another work,
exposure of mung beans to the 5 mT static field was shown to improve
the rate of the vigor of seedlings (Reddy, Reshma, Jareena, & Nagaraju,
2012). In order to find the treatment effect of the static field on maize,
Anand et al. (2012) exposed the grains to 200 and 100 mT for 1 and 2 h
and revealed that all growth parameters improved for MF exposed seeds
relative to unexposed grains. Similar to the above result exposure to the
magnetic field also showed a hike in the germination power of cu-
cumber and soybean seeds (Bhardwaj, Anand, & Nagarajan, 2012).
However, Balakhnina, Bulak, Nosalewicz, Pietruszewski, and
Włodarczyk (2015) have found that when wheat seeds were exposed to
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Trends in Food Science & Technology 86 (2019) 95–108
the field of magnetic intensity 30 mT for 30 s at 50 Hz no difference was
observed through experiments in levels of seed growth rate as well as in
seed germination.
8. Microwave radiation
Microwaves are electromagnetic energy has a frequency range from
300 to 300,000 MHz and falls between infrared and radio waves.
Microwave (MW) radiation has very small energies that are insufficient
to ionize atoms, hence they are also called non-ionizing radiations
(Piyasena, Dussault et al., 2003). When MW radiation penetrates
through a material, part of the energy is transmitted, part is reflected,
and the remaining is absorbed by the material. The interaction of the
electric field component of the microwave radiation with charged
particles in the food material produces a heating effect. Here the mo-
lecular motion takes place by rotation of dipoles and movement of ions
causing no change to the molecular structure of food. This molecular
movement is extremely fast at frequency 2.45 GHz where the dielectric
heating is primarily by absorption of energy in water (Lew, Krutzik,
Hart, & Chamberlin, 2002). The microwave is applied to both solid as
well as liquid foods. About 60% of homes in the UK and over 90% in
USA and Canada use MW ovens for processing food (Orsat, Raghavan, &
Meda, 2005). Some of the industrial applications include drying,
cooking, pasteurization, thawing, and tempering of foods. In addition to
this effect of microwave radiation on seed germination and growth rate
have also been studied.
A study was conducted on the effect of microwave treatment on
weed seeds by Sahin (2014) and revealed that exposure to the power of
2.8 kW inhibited the germination to 100% due to the thermal effect of
microwave energy. A study conducted by Radzevičius et al. (2013) on
the effect of microwave radiation on vegetable seed germination and
growth rate. When exposed to high power microwave radiation of
9.3 GHz radish seeds and carrot seeds showed an elevation in the
amount of germination energy required and also influenced the amount
of photosynthetic pigment present. It was also reported that when
lentils were treated with microwave radiation of frequency 2.45 GHz no
change in germination rate was observed and when treated for long
duration negative impact was observed (Aladjadjiyan, 2010). In an
early study done on the effect of wheat germination on exposure to
microwave radiation of 2.45 GHz also demonstrated the reduction of
seed viability of treated seeds (Reddy, Raghavan, Kushalappa, &
Paulitz, 1998). The inhibitory effect of two microwave frequency 10.5
and 12.5 GHz on germination rate and hypocotyls growth in radish
seeds was reported by (Scialabba & Tamburello, 2002). In contradict,
other works revealed treatment with microwave to have a positive
impact. In an experiment exposure to microwave radiation was re-
ported to cause an increase in root length, shoot length and germination
percentage of MR 219 Rice variety to 100% when treated with
2450 MHz for 10 h (Talei, Valdiani, Maziah, & Mohsenkhah, 2013).
This was explained as the energy content emitted by microwave in-
creased the movement of water molecules and increased the water
absorbance by the embryo in MR 219 rice seeds. Jakubowski (2016)
studied the effects of microwave radiation on the germination of six
edible potato tubers and found a higher number of actively sprouting
eyes compared to controls. Similarly, in three grains namely wheat,
barley, and rye (Rajagopal, 2009) showed that the microwave radiation
enhanced the germination rate and growth indices. Crețescu, Căpriț;ă,
Velicevici, Ropciuc, & Buzamat (2013) investigated the response of
barley seeds when treated with microwave radiation and found that
seed vigor increased after exposure to 20 s. In general, it can be con-
cluded that the effect of microwave radiation for seed germination
depends on the type of seed or grain treated, microwave frequency,
microwave strength and exposure time. The positive impact of micro-
wave radiation on seed enhancement can be explained with the for-
mation of hot spots and increased movement of water among seeds due
to applied microwave frequency which enhances seed germination
E.J. Rifna, et al.
(Talei et al., 2013). On the other hand, the inhibitory effect on seed
germination was due to the absorption of great energy by seeds as a
result of higher output power and longer exposure time which dimin-
ished the cell functions and seed viability.
9. Non-thermal plasma (NTP)
Plasma is a high energy state and comprises of negative and positive
ions, electrons, neutral molecules, with the concentrations of each ba-
lanced making plasma as neutral overall (Misra, Tiwari, Raghavarao, &
Cullen, 2011). The types of plasma generated are thermal and non-
thermal plasma (NTP) based on the mean temperatures of their heavy
particles like ions and neutral species. In the thermal plasma, all the
particles are in thermodynamic equilibrium, while a significant differ-
ence in kinetic energy caused by the temperature of electrons and the
ambient gas particles is observed in non-thermal plasma (Mahendran,
Kavitha Abirami, & Alagusundaram, 2017).
Currently, plasma technology is employed for functionalization,
inactivation, and sterilization of enzymes, its affinity towards water,
starch, surface modification (Thirumdas, Sarangapani, & Annapure,
2015) and integrated pest management (Ratish Ramanan, Sarumathi, &
Mahendran, 2018). It is also employed for reducing the time of cooking
in bamboo rice (Potluri, Sangeetha, Santhosh, Nivas, & Mahendran,
2018). Recently the use of non-thermal technology, that is cold plasma
has also been investigated for enhancing the germination and growth
rate and its effect on seed dormancy.
Studying the power of corona discharge plasma jet (CDPJ) was in-
dended on sprouting of rapeseed, plasma application resulted in 7.7%
improved the germination percentage of seed compared to the un-
treated ones (Puligundla, Kim, & Mok, 2017). It was revealed that
surface energy and hydrophilic property of treated seeds increased due
to surface erosion created by plasma resulting to a higher number of
germinated seeds and quickly improved germination. Mung beans were
treated using atmospheric air plasma at a pressure of 20 Pa and fre-
quency of 13.56 MHz by Sadhu, Thirumdas, Deshmukh, and Annapure
(2017). The modification and etching on the surface in mung beans
after plasma treatment enhanced the rate of germination after one day
by 36.2% and 15.3% after two days compared to mung beans in the
control phase. Blue lupine, catgut, soy, and honey clover were exposed
to RF plasma discharge and studied that RF plasma treatment enhanced
the cellular membrane transport and carrying properties of seed and
permeability improving the germination (Filatova et al., 2010). The
exposure to microwave plasma and its impact on germination of Lamb's
Quarters seeds was studied by vacuum plasma discharge (Será, Stranák,
Serý, Tichý, & Spatenka, 2008). The seeds in contact to plasma, ger-
minated at a higher rate with sprout length being high from the first
day. Germination level for the control seeds was 15%, whereas for seeds
exposed to treatment increased by about three times (max 55%) at a
time period of 12–48 min. Safflower seeds were exposed to low-pres-
sure capacitively-coupled RF argon plasma which resulted in 100%
germination when treated at 16 Pa for 130 min (Dhayal, Lee, & Park,
2006). Bormashenko, Grynyov, Bormashenko, and Drori (2012) studied
the effect of cold air plasma on surface water absorption properties in
lentils, beans and wheat. It has been investigated that the decrease in
contact angle after treatment with active plasma components was due
to seed surface oxidation. In another work wheat alone was exposed to
helium plasma by Meng et al. (2017) and reported that plasma treat-
ment improved the level of germination (6.7%) and sprout length
(6.0%) compared to the untreated seeds.
Ling et al. (2014) reported improved germination percentage in
soybean from 68% to 100% after exposure to low-temperature glow-
discharge plasma. In another study hybrid cold-discharge plasma was
used on rice seeds which resulted in accelerating the germination and
improving water imbibition (Khamsen et al., 2016). A work was carried
out to know the impact of atmospheric plasma treatment on radish
seeds and the characteristic for growth regulation on radish sprout was
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Trends in Food Science & Technology 86 (2019) 95–108
by Hayashi, Ono, Shiratani, and Yonesu (2015). It was found that the
mean sprout length increased as the exposure to plasma treatment was
enhanced. The active oxygen species that was produced in oxygen
plasma was responsible for the growth enhancement. On wheat seeds,
the influence of atmospheric pressure surface discharge of cold plasma
was studied (Dobrin, Magureanu, Mandache, & Ionita, 2015). Also, the
treatment with plasma had a very less impact on germination levels but
increased length of root was achieved compared to the untreated
samples. The exposure of mulungu (Erythrina velutina) seeds to atmo-
spheric plasma enhanced the water imbibition and germination level to
5% in comparison to the controls (Junior, de Oliveira Vitoriano, Da
Silva, de Lima Farias, & de Lima Dantas, 2016). The corona discharge
Ozone (O3) gas plasma effect on the tomato to release dormancy was
studied (Sudhakar et al., 2011). It was reported that seeds treated
showed a good value of germination initially but reduced its effect as
stored time increased. A low level of the plant hormone, abscisic acid
was also reported in plasma exposed seeds which also improved the
germination. A similar result was reported by Violleau et al. (2008) on
corn when exposed to ozone plasma. Barley and oat seeds were exposed
with glow discharge plasmas, using a pulse rate of 0.5 Hz under
0.1–0.2 Pa (Dubinov, Lazarenko, & Selemir, 2000). Increased level of
sprout length and germination rate were reported. The seeds of two pea
and radish cultivars were subjected to RF plasma treatment and the
increase of coat thickness after treatment delayed the rate of germi-
nation (Volin, Denes, Young, & Park, 2000). Jiayun et al. (2014) found
the improvement on the permeability in seedlings of Andrographis pa-
niculata after exposure to atmospheric pressure DBD plasma.
It can be summarized that exposure to plasma improved the para-
meters governing for germination and growth properties of treated
seeds in comparison to control seeds. This is justified as the etching and
modification of seed surface, conductivity in seeds coat were ac-
celerated and decreased the value of contact angle making surface to be
in hydrophilic or to attract water molecule.
10. Electrolyzed oxidising water (EOW)
Electrolyzed oxidizing water (EOW), also called as strongly acidic
electrolyzed water (SAEW) was introduced in Japan. To produce EOW
electricity is passed through a solution of dilute saltwater within which
a membrane is placed to separate anode and cathode. The reaction at
electrodes generates two products namely sodium hydroxide and hy-
pochlorous acid (Joshi et al., 2013). The first kind is water formed from
positive side (anode) called as EOW with pH (2.3–2.7), ORP greater
than 1000 mV and has dissolved oxygen and free chlorine. However,
water produced at cathode side known as electrolyzed reduced (ER)
water has pH (10.0–11.5), ORP of 800 to −900 mV (Hsu, 2005). EOW
has also been proven to have antimicrobial activity on a number of
species of microorganisms (Vorobjeva, Vorobjeva, & Khodjaev, 2004).
Liao, Chen, and Xiao (2007) revealed that high oxidation power of EOW
destroyed the cell wall of micro-organisms. EOW has also found wide
application for washing of fresh-cut vegetables like spinach, bell pep-
pers, Japanese radish carrots, and potatoes were explained (Izumi,
1999). Electrolyzed oxidizing water is applied to fresh produce from
farm to degrade the pesticide residues from them. Lin, Tsai, Wu, Yeh,
and Saalia (2006) demonstrated that electrolyzed water to be an effi-
cient method for in degrading dimethoate and methamidophos from
leafy green vegetables due to the oxidation effect and pH of the test
solution. Impact of EOW for reducing the pesticide residue in spinach
was done by (Hao et al., 2011). Apart from this, the use of EOW has also
been revealed to show a good impact on enhancing seed germination.
Lixin, Chuan, Shumei, Wei, and Jian (2010) reported the changes in
germination rate of cabbage seeds after treating with electrolyzed oxi-
dized water. It was revealed that the fresh weight of shoots and the rate
of germination got accelerated in treatment with EOW of pH 3.30.
Whereas strong high pH and low pH water retarded the growth the
seeds after treatment. Thus, it was found that an important factor that
E.J. Rifna, et al.
influenced the growth rate of seeds was the pH of the solution. Influ-
ence of acidic EOW and ultrasound on Alfalfa and Broccoli seeds was
studied by (Kim, Feng, Kushad, & Fan, 2006) and explained that the
used technologies retained the rate of germination to more than 85%.
So, it is found that electrolyzed oxidized water had a constructive effect
on seed germination. The two major factor that influenced the rate of
parameters of seeds during sprouting and growth phase was the dura-
tion of soaking and the pH value of EOW. It was observed that when
soaking was prolonged out for the low duration the overall impact of
electrolyzed water was not significant and even soaking for a very long
period had a negative impact on measured parameters of seeds.
11. Plasma activated water (PAW)
Plasma is fourth and high energy phase of matter has found a broad
application in agriculture and food industry since nineteenth century.
However, during mid-twentieth century scientists revealed a new ap-
plication in plasma technology; a new kind of water which is free of
chemicals, salt and harmful processes called plasma activated water
(PAW) were produced on exposing water to plasma. Water generated
through plasma technology possessed to have a high value of pH and
comprises of O radical, H radical, OH radical, reactive nitrogen and
oxygen species (Shen et al., 2016). During the process, acidity, con-
ductivity and oxygen reduction potential of water also got changed.
There is a different production mode to generate plasma activated
water. Firstly, the plasma being exposed directly into water and second
is a discharge of plasma above the surface of the water. The first method
where plasma is discharged directly into water has the drawback of less
energy efficiency (Schoenbach, Joshi, Stark, Dobbs, & Beebe, 2000).
Hence, to enhance the energy efficiency, plasma discharged over the
liquid surface. Plasma exposure causes breakage in the clusters of mo-
lecules of water and generating the monomolecular water. The amount
of water cluster molecule decreases and the number of monomolecular
water increases, thus the activity possessed by water increases. The
activated/monomolecular water has a very minute size allowing it to go
through the membranes, pores of plants, animals and processed foods
easily. PAW thus produced can have pH high equal to 12.5 with an
Oxygen Reduction Potential (ORP) of −600 mV to a small pH of 1.5
with an ORP of +1200 mV. PAW has found enormous applications in
agriculture and food industry. The most vital application of water ac-
tivated by plasma is microbial disinfection on food and processing
equipment (Kamgang-Youbi et al., 2009). Treatment with PAW also
eliminates bacteria and viruses on produce for a healthier food source
(Ma et al., 2015). Plasma activated water is been widely employed in
the medical field as a base for a physiological solution, antibiotic and
vaccine preparation (Zhang, 2014). PAW is utilized in the management
of wastewater and the agricultural field, and is also shown to have a
good impact on seed germination. Hence activated water by plasma
Fig. 2. Growth characteristics of sesame seeds on day 5 under a) PAW and b) Tap water.
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Trends in Food Science & Technology 86 (2019) 95–108
accounts to be a new technology in the enhancement of germination
percentage and growth rate of seeds.
It was reported that seeds of zinnia annual and rye when treated
with plasma activated water increased quantity of roots, root length
was doubled and in addition, the germinability got increased by 50%
(Naumova, Maksimov, & Khlyustova, 2011). It has been revealed that
the hydrogen peroxide and formed radical were capable of piercing into
the membrane of the cell and activating cell making germination pro-
cesses faster. In another experiment, the influence of plasma activated
water on germination of lentil seeds was analyzed by Zhang, Rousseau,
and Dufour (2017) and explained that radicals of nitrogen (NO radical)
and hydrogen peroxide generated, improved the germination to a level
of 80% compared to 30% germinated when treated using tap water.
Park et al. (2013) demonstrated that use of plasma-activated water
resulted in enhancing the growth rate of watermelon, zinnia, alfalfa,
and pole beans. It has been studied that both plant weight and length
got enhanced. Similarly, an experiment conducted out by
(Sivachandiran & Khacef, 2017) both radish seeds (10 min), as well as
water (15 and 30 min), was exposed to plasma and their synergistic
effect was evaluated. It was reported that after one day of sowing, only
40% of control treated seeds germinated, whereas, germination per-
centage was found 60% and 100% in PAW-15 and PAW-30 respectively.
Similarly, in research work on radish seeds on treatment with PAW
produced by O2, N2, He and Ar plasma Sarinont, Katayama, Wada,
Koga, and Shiratani (2017) discovered that effectiveness of PAW was
caused by long lifetime reactive oxygen nitrogen species (RONS).
Plasma activated water being the emerging technology among all
methods discussed in this paper, its effect on seed germination was
investigated. Viable seeds of green gram and sesame were selected and
divided into two lots. The first lot of seeds were soaked in plasma ac-
tivated water for a period of three hours and about 4 ml of PAW was
poured into Petri dish every day and germination studies were carried
out till day 5. Whereas, the control samples of both seeds were soaked
in tap water for three hours and about 4 ml of tap water was poured into
Petri dish. It was found that plasma treated green gram and sesame
seeds showed to have enhanced germination rate and the shoot length
of treated seeds was double than that of the control seeds from the third
day of germination study. The enhanced growth rate of sesame and
green gram seeds after the fifth day of the experiment is shown in Fig. 2
and Fig. 3 respectively. It was found that plasma consists of ions, light,
and radicals which interact with air to produce hydroxyl, oxygen and
nitrogen radicals. Later these reactive species combine with a solution
(water) to produce plasma activated water comprising of nitrites, ni-
trates and hydrogen peroxide.
All the above works reveal that the nitrogen and hydrogen peroxide
radical that gets generated during water activation is accountable for
the improvement in germination percentage and growth rate. Hydrogen
peroxide plays a twin role in the physiological processes, in addition to
E.J. Rifna, et al. Trends in Food Science & Technology 86 (2019) 95–108

Fig. 3. Growth characteristics of green gram seeds on day 5 under a) PAW and b) Tap water.

Table 1
Synopsis of studies on seed germination using thermal and non-thermal technologies.
Technology Seed type Salient results Reference

PEF Flaxseeds Germination rate increased from 2% to 13% Pozeliene (2001)

Tomato seeds Germination rate increased from 76% to 100% Patwardhan and Gandhare (2013)
Barley seeds Overall metabolic activity was not impaired Dymek et al. (2012)
Chickpea seeds Water absorption percentage was higher in treated seeds compared Mahajan and Pandey (2014)
to control
Iranian alfalfa seeds Treated seeds showed increased germination rate, root length, Rezaei-Zarchi et al. (2012)
shoot length, crop yield
Arabidopsis thaliana Leaf area increased by 65% than control Songnuan and Kirawanich (2011)
Onion seeds Maximum germination percentage and seedling height reported at Molamofrad et al. (2013)
9 kV/cm
Buckwheat PEF increased phenolic compound in seed & enhanced germination Nam, Lim, and Eom (2018)
Barley seeds After treating with 180 pulses in 60 s, germination rate enhanced Chen et al. (2019)
by 41–60%
Barley seeds High germinability were observed at a treatment time and distance Zenklusen, Coronel, Castro, Alzamora, and González
of 25 s and 10 cm respectively (2018)
Chick pea, broad beans & Improved germination efficiency and bioactivity profile of Vasilean, Aprodu, Neculau, & Pătraș;cu (2018)
lentils germinated pulses
Ultrasound Barley seeds Germination period decreased by 30–45% after treatment Yaldagard et al. (2008)
Green pea seeds Germination percentage increased from 85% to 98.1% Chiu and Sung (2014)
Sunflower seeds Treated seeds had 95% germination rate compared to 68% in Machikowa et al. (2013)
control
Big saltbush, Cumin, Caper Germination rate increased by 28%, 36% and 35.7% compared to Sharififar et al. (2015)
beans controls
Wheat Germination rate increased from 90% to 94% after treatment Aladjadjiyan (2011)
Lentils Germination rate increased from 92% to 98% after treatment Aladjadjiyan (2011)
Red rice & brown rice Exposure to 25 kHz for 5 min improved germination rate, Ding et al. (2018)
functional properties of flour
Aged forage seeds US at 254.29 W at 25 °C for 22 min promoted germination, root Liu et al. (2018)
length and shoot length
Lettuce leaves Exposure to ultrasonic pressure below 20 kPa promoted growth Kurashina, Yamashita, Kurabayashi, Takemura, and
rate of leaves Ando (2019)
Dry seeds Dry sonication process enhanced germination characteristics in Redding Jr (2018)
dry seeds
Ozone processing Corn seeds Faster start of germination and long roots was observed for treated Violleau et al. (2008)
samples
Tomato seeds Germination increased by 95% than control Sudhakar et al. (2011)
Wheat seeds Morphological characteristics increased contamination level Lazukin et al. (2018)
reduced for treated seeds
Spinach Ozone micro bubble improved plant growth by inducing Ikeura, Goto, and Tamaki (2018)
precipitation of Fe & Mn ions
Lettuce Lettuce grown in ozone treated domestic sludge had increased leaf Peng, GUO, and Ling (2018)
number, plant height & weight
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Table 1 (continued)

Technology Seed type Salient results Reference

UV-A & UV-C Groundnut Germination rate increased by 83,3% compared to controls by UV- Neelamegam and Sutha (2015)
C treatment
Cabbage Improved growth rate and quality of cabbage in greenhouse Brown et al. (2001)
condition after UV-C treatment
Mung beans Germination reached 100% after UV-A treatment Hamid and Jawaid (2011)
Tomato seeds Seeds grown under UV-A for 15 days possessed acceleration in Mariz-Ponte, Mendes, Sario, Melo, and Santos
germination, cotyledon area, biomass (2018)
Rapeseed UV-C irradiation at dose of 80–120 J/m2 increased germination Semenov, Kozhushko, and Sakhno (2018)
energy by 20–26%
UV-B Mash beans Seed germination, growth and development rate got retarded after Shaukat et al. (2013)
treatment
Soybean Treatment decreased cotyledon cell number, plant height and yield Liu et al. (2013)
Red bean Reduced sprouting rate due to disruption of protein Peykarestan and Seify (2012)
Seaweeds UVR (295–395 nm) inhibited photosynthesis & growth percentage Xu, Zhang, Fu, Gao, and Gao (2018)
on seawater surface
Mung beans Exposure to UV-B radiations reduced size, productivity & quality of Sheeba (2018)
seeds
Chinese tallow seed Exposure to UV-B decreased the leaf area & total biomass Deng et al. (2019)
HPP Alfalfa seeds Untreated seeds showed germination of 95% whereas treated seeds Ariefdjohan et al. (2004)
had germination only to 28%
Broccoli, Turnip leaf & Germination rate of treated Broccoli, Turnip leaf & Potherb Mori et al. (2012)
Potherb mustard mustard were lower than control seeds
Mung beans The seed viability decreased due to pressure application Peñas et al. (2010)
Potato tuber Sprout formation was 65% lower on treated than control Saraiva and Rodrigues (2011)
Brown rice HPP stress (30–90 MPa/5 min) delayed embryo growth, reduced Xia and Li (2018)
total digestible and resistant starch
Foxtail millet Flour prepared from seeds germinated under HPP possessed Sharma, Goyal, Alam, Fatma, and Niranjan (2018)
improved functional properties
Magnetic field Sunflower seeds Germination rate increased by 5–11% compared to controls Vashisth and Nagarajan (2010)
Tomato seeds Treatment increased growth rate and tolerance to biotic stresses De Souza et al. (2006)
Maize Treatment enhanced seedling growth, leaf water status and Anand et al. (2012)
photosynthesis rate
Cucumber seeds Germintion rate, length of seedling and dry weight increased by Bhardwaj et al. (2012)
49,34 and 33%
Radish seeds Stationary magnetic field of 0.02 T for 720 s improved all Konefał-Janocha et al. (2019)
germination characteristics
Strawberry seeds Magnetic field of 0.005 T for 360 s incremented germination by Izmailov, Smirnov, Khort, Filippov, and Kutyrev
14% compared to control (2018)
Amaranth seeds Enhanced seed moisture content and germination parameters Kornarzyński, Dziwulska-Hunek, Kornarzyńska-
Gregorowicz, and Sujak (2018)
Soybean Plant growth attributes, biomass & photosynthetic performance Baghel, Kataria, and Guruprasad (2018)
improved at 0.2 T for 3600 s
Cucumber seeds Exposure to MF of 0.5 T improved germination rate & seed Cheikh, Elaoud, Amor, and Hozayn (2018)
capacity of seeds prior seedling
Microwave radiation MR 219 Rice seeds Germination percentage reached 100% with increased root length Talei et al. (2013)
and shoot length
Potato tuber Treated potatoes had more number of actively sprouted eyes Jakubowski (2016)
Wheat, Barley, Rye Increased germination rate and growth indices Rajagopal (2009)
Barley seeds Good result for germination and vigor index was obtained at Creț;escu et al. (2013)
microwave power of 400 W for 20s
Tomato seeds Exposure to MW radiation of 9.3 GHz for below 4 h enhanced Kumari, Verma, and Sharma (2018)
growth index and biochemical content of plant
Lentil seeds MW radiation at 485 W reduced level of microbial infected seeds Taheri, Brodie, Gupta, and Dadu (2019)
from 17% to 9%
Garden cress MW frequency at 2.4 GHz for 5–15 s had a positive modifying Tomasz (2018)
impact on germination
Stone pine seedling Application of 280 W for 60 s was found to suppress the live plants Kuzugudenli (2018)
and increase seedling rate
Corn & Pepper seed MW treated water improved growth rate of corn and pepper Alattar, Elwasife, Radwan, and Alagha (2018)
seedling compared to tap water
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Table 1 (continued)

Technology Seed type Salient results Reference

NTP Rapeseed Seed germination increased by 7.7% compared to control Puligundla et al. (2017)
Mung beans Germination rate was 15.2% higher compared to control seeds Sadhu et al. (2017)
after two days
Lambs quarters Germination rate for untreated seeds was 15% and it increased to Será et al. (2008)
55% after treatment
Safflower seeds 100% germination after exposure to RF argon plasma Dhayal et al. (2006)
Wheat Treatment with He plasma increased germination rate by 6.7% Ling et al. (2014)
compared to control
Tomato seeds Fruit yield increased to 27% after treatment Zhou, Huang, Yang, and Chen (2011)
Rice seeds The germination percentage of treated seeds was 98% and non- Khamsen et al. (2016)
treated seeds was 90%
Soybean Germination in soybean increased from 68% to 100% Ling et al. (2014)
Mulungu seeds Increase water uptake and 5% increased germination rate Junior et al. (2016)
compared to controls
Cucumber & pepper seeds Plasma treatment of 20 s on cucumber & 4 s on pepper improved Štěpánová et al. (2018)
germination power
Thuringian mallow seed Germination capacity and energy increased for seeds simulated to Pawlat et al. (2018)
plasma for 2 min & 5 min
Wheat Seedlings treated with plasma (0.84 W/cm2) for 3 h improved Iranbakhsh, Ardebili, Ardebili, Shafaati, and
plant growth by modifying gene expression Ghoranneviss (2018)
Barley DBD plasma increased GABA content and increased germination to Park et al. (2018)
110%
Sunflower seed Exposure to plasma helped in dormancy release by inhibiting ABA De Bont et al.(2019)
Maize seed Cold plasma (80 W/cm3) inhibited native pathogens and enhanced Zahoranová et al. (2018)
growth parameters
Tomato Plasma at 80 W increased N2 & P by 12.7% & 19.1% respectively Jiang, Jiangang, and Yuanhua (2018)
Spinach Plasma treatment increased water absorption enhancing Ji et al. (2018)
germination index
EOW Alfalfa, Broccoli seeds Germination rate was higher than 85% compared to control Kim et al. (2006)
Chinese Cabbage seeds Raised fresh weight of shoots and germination rate Lixin et al. (2010)
PAW Rye and Zinnia seeds Germinability increased by 50% Naumova et al. (2011)
Lentil seeds Germination rate was 80% for seeds treated with PAW and 30% for Zhang et al. (2017)
tap water treated seeds
Radish seeds Germination rate was 60% and 100% for treated seeds and 40% for Sivachandiran and Khacef (2017)
untreated seeds
Barley seeds Germination rate enhanced by 81–100% Chen et al. (2019)
Arabidopsis thaliana seeds High production of reactive O2 species in seed grown at PAW for Bafoil et al. (2018)
42 days possessed high growth index
Mung beans Seedling growth with GI of 95.5% due to generation of high RONS Zhou, Li, Zhou, Zhang, and Yang (2018)
species

removing biotic seed stress by regulating GA and ABA. Nitrate gener-
ated in PAW has two key roles. Firstly, it is being assimilated by plant
enzymes as a nutrient (e.g. nitrate reductase) leading to the production
of nitrogen compounds and amino acids; Secondly, as an individual
molecule, it regulates various stages of plant metabolism and devel-
opment (Zhang et al., 2017). Altogether, the technology of plasma ac-
tivated water proves to be a significant method for germination of seeds
and enhancing the growth rate of the discussed current novel technol-
ogies.
It was evidenced that existing thermal and non-thermal technology
has got a significant impact on altering the seed germination level,
growth rate and various other growth parameters like germination
index, root length, stem height etc. But it was observed that the ger-
mination percentage, level of growth and all other measured para-
meters showed variation according to the technology adopted and the
seed species selected for the study. A summary of a study on how dif-
ferent technology influenced the germination of different seed species
has been listed in Table 1 and their mode of action in Table 2.

Table 2
Mechanism of action of treatments on seed germination.
Sl. no Parameters Treatments

HPP PEF US OP UV MF MW NTP EOW PAW

1 Germination rate ↓ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑
2 Plant hormone ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗
3 Surface modification ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗
4 Permeability ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✗
5 Biochemical change ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
6 Biotic stress removal ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓
7 Photosynthetic pigment ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗
8 Physiological change ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗

✓-Had effect; ✗ - No effect; ↓ -Inhibited germination; ↑-Enhanced germination.

HPP-High pressure processing; PEF-Pulsed electric field; US-Ultrasound; OP-Ozone processing; UV-Ultraviolet light; MF-Magnetic field; MW-Microwave radiation;
NTP-Non-thermal plasma, EOW-Electrolyzed oxidized water; PAW-Plasma activated water.

104
E.J. Rifna, et al.
12. Conclusion
In this study, we reviewed and summarized the contribution of
emerging technologies on various seed germination. The reasons for the
positive and negative impact of these technologies and their mechanism
of action on seeds are presented. Ultrasound, UV-A, UV-C and non-
thermal plasma treatment were supported to be effective in enhancing
seed germination where the surface modification of treated seeds have
important causes whereas in the pulsed electric field and microwave
treatment, the physiological change that took place within seed in-
creased the germination rate by enhancing the level of water imbibed
during soaking. In contrast, exposure to high pressure treatment and
UV-B rays damaged embryo, disrupted protein, DNA and cell mem-
brane ultimately causing destruction to seed structure. The ozone
treatment had a positive impact on seed germination by reducing the
level of plant hormone that was responsible for alleviating the dor-
mancy period. However, Plasma activated water technology stands to
be recent emerging technology for enhancing seed germination. This is
because seeds treated with PAW is free from all microbial load and
during activation of water by plasma certain radicals like H2O2, nitrite,
and nitrate that act as nutrient and signal-molecule to seeds. However,
detailed research works have to be investigated for effect of PAW on
seed germination and quality of products developed from thereof. Due
to the diversity and complexity of seeds along with the differences in
features of these emerging technologies, the quality of seed and the
operating conditions are the key elements to be focused to increase
efficiency in germination yield. It is envisaged that the technologies
perceived to be the most environmentally friendly will be more likely to
succeed in industrial applications. Conclusively, researchers will soon
deal with the prospect of applying emerging technologies with the ul-
timate goal to secure food safety by improving the yield of grain and
germination.
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