The effect of water activated by nonthermal air plasma on the growth of farm plants: Case of maize and barley
Gervais B. Ndiffo Yemeli, Renáta Švubová, Dominik Kostoláni, Stanislav Kyzek, Zdenko Machala
Abstract
Abstract The effects of plasma‐activated water (PAW) generated by nonthermal air plasmas of transient spark with water electrospray or atmospheric glow discharge were investigated on maize ( Zea mays L. var Saccharata) and barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) seedlings. PAW is characterized by measuring concentrations of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (H 2 O 2 , , ). After 4 weeks of plants growth, the effects of PAW are analyzed by measuring plant growth and physiological parameters: plant length and fresh weight, photosynthetic pigments concentration and photosynthesis rate, total soluble proteins, antioxidant enzyme activity, and DNA damage. The results suggest that PAW, depending on chemical composition, has the potential to improve the plant growth and influence the physiological parameters, while causing no harmful DNA damage.