Sains Malaysiana 52(2)(2023): 599-611

http://doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2023-5202-21

 

Plasma-Assisted Priming: Improved Germination and Seedling Performance of Papaya

(Penyebuan Berbantukan Plasma: Peningkatan Percambahan dan Prestasi Anak Benih Betik)

 

DENG-KE XI¹, SEONG LING YAP^1,2,*, NITTURI NARESH KUMAR¹, CHIAN CHENG TOH¹, KENJI ISHIKAWA² & MASARU HORI²

 

¹Plasma Technology Research Centre, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory, Malaysia

²Center for Low-temperature Plasma Sciences, Nagoya University, Japan Furo-cho

Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan

 

Received: 25 July 2022/Accepted: 8 November 2022

 

Abstract

Papaya is a one of the important tropical fruit crops with a global export of 353 ktonnne reported in 2020. The germination of papaya seed is erratic and often non-uniform. Plasma assisted priming of seed was performed at atmospheric pressure in a parallel plate dielectric barrier discharge system. The germination rate of papaya seeds and the growth performance of the seedling were monitored for several treatment plans combining the atmospheric pressure plasma treatment with soaking of seed in deionized water. An enhanced germination rate of 92% was obtained by the plasma assisted priming, compared to the untreated of 60%. The plasma assisted priming performed by plasma treatment and soaking in an opposite sequence showed different requirement and possibly involved different mechanisms. The treatment time was reduced to only 4 minutes for pre-soaked seeds, otherwise the germination rate increased with the plasma treatment time from 3 to 30 min treatment. The plasma assisted priming approaches were also found enhancing seedling growth performance. The treated seedling grows about two times bigger and the dried mass measured after 30 days was more than 100% compared to that of the untreated and hot water treated seeds.

 

Keywords: Hot water treatment; papaya germination; papaya seedling growth performance; plasma assisting priming; plasma seed treatment

 

Abstrak

Betik ialah salah satu tanaman buah tropika yang penting dengan eksport global sebanyak 353 ktonnne dilaporkan pada tahun 2020. Percambahan benih betik adalah tidak menentu dan selalunya tidak seragam. Penyebuan dibantu plasma untuk percambahan benih betik dilakukan pada tekanan atmosfera dalam sistem nyahcas dielektrik dengan plat selari. Kadar percambahan benih betik dan prestasi pertumbuhan anak pokok dipantau untuk beberapa pelan yang menggabungkan rawatan plasma tekanan atmosfera dengan merendam benih dalam air ternyahion. Kadar percambahan yang dipertingkatkan sehingga 92% diperoleh oleh penyebuan dibantu plasma, berbanding 60% yang tidak dirawat. Penyebuan dibantu plasma yang dilakukan oleh rawatan plasma dan perendaman dalam susunan yang bertentangan mendedahkan keperluan yang berbeza dan mungkin melibatkan mekanisme yang berlainan. Masa rawatan dikurangkan kepada hanya 4 minit untuk benih pra-rendam, jika tidak, kadar percambahan meningkat dengan masa rawatan plasma daripada 3 hingga 30 minit. Pendekatan penyebuan dibantu plasma didapati juga meningkatkan prestasi pertumbuhan anak pokok. Anak pokok yang dirawat tumbuh lebih kurang dua kali lebih besar dan jisim kering yang diukur selepas 30 hari adalah lebih daripada 100% berbanding anak pokok yang tidak dirawat dan yang dirawat dengan air panas.

 

Kata kunci:  Penyebuan dibantu plasma; percambahan betik; prestasi pertumbuhan anak pokok betik; rawatan air panas; rawatan plasma benih

 

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^*Corresponding author; email: yapsl@um.edu.my