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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Biosciences and Bioengineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2021) | Viewed by 50044

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Gyungsoon Park

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Guest Editor

Department of Electrical and Biological Physics, Plasma Bioscience Research Center, Kwangwoon University, Seoul 01897, Korea
Interests: applied microbiology; plasma sterilization and sanitation; fungi; microbiome; beneficial microorganisms; plant disease control

Dr. Henrike Brust

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Co-Guest Editor

Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), Felix-Hausdorff-Straße 2, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
Interests: plant physiology; biochemistry; effects of physical plasma on plant growth and development; decontamination capacity of physical plasma on microorganisms

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cold atmospheric pressure plasma has been actively applied in medicine and agriculture. Particularly, it is considered to be a promising tool for solving problems and improving processes in agriculture, the food industry, and other biological fields. Compared to medicine, the agriculture, food, and environmental fields are recently getting more attention in the application of plasma techniques. Many issues such as efficiency, standardization, and action mechanisms of plasma, still require a tremendous amount of research. Accumulating data and information should be actively shared and exchanged among researchers for making cold atmospheric pressure plasma future advanced technology

We propose a Special Issue on the biological applications of cold atmospheric pressure plasma. The upcoming issue will focus on “Plasma Techniques in Agriculture, Biology and Food Production”. Medicine will not be the main focus of this Issue. Manuscripts are welcome that deal with the application of different kinds of plasma sources in pre-and postharvest processes with agriculture and food technology as well as in the biology field, such as environmental issues and biotechnology. Basic characterization, application case studies, plasma standardization, and elucidation of mechanisms can be handled in this Issue.

We welcome the active participation from all researchers in the related area and particularly, attendees of IWOPA 2020 (3^rd International Workshop on Plasma Agriculture, Mar. 01-04, 2020, Greifswald, Germany).

Dr. Gyungsoon Park
Dr. Henrike Brust
Guest Editors

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Keywords

agriculture
antioxidants
biology
cold atmospheric pressure plasma
crops
environment
food decontamination
food industry
food storage
growth stimulation
microbial inactivation
pesticides
plant growth
plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB)
plasma chemistry
post-harvest disease control
preservation
reactive species
seed germination
storage
surface decontamination
surface modification

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 1484 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effects of Red Clover Seed Treatment with Cold Plasma and Electromagnetic Field on Germination and Seedling Growth Are Dependent on Seed Color

by Anatolii Ivankov, Rasa Zukiene, Zita Nauciene, Laima Degutyte-Fomins, Irina Filatova, Veronika Lyushkevich and Vida Mildaziene

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(10), 4676; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11104676 - 20 May 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2237

Abstract

This study aimed to estimate the effects of cold plasma (CP) and electromagnetic field (EMF) treatment of red clover (Trifolium pratense) seeds with different coat colors on germination kinetics, the content of seed phytohormones, and the growth of seedlings. Seeds of red clover cultivar ‘Arimaiciai’ were treated with radio-frequency EMF or capacitively coupled low-pressure CP for different durations. There were no differences in germination kinetics between yellow, brown, and dark purple seeds in control, but the germination rate of seeds treated with CP and EMF depended on seed color: The germination of yellow seeds was stimulated stronger compared to dark purple and brown seeds, and EMF did not stimulate germination in brown seeds. The content of phytohormones in control seeds and the shift in their amount induced by seed treatments were also strongly dependent on seed color. No relationship was found between the effect on germination kinetics and changes in phytohormone levels. In the control, seedlings growing from the yellow seeds were heavier, and the number of root nodules was 12.5 times larger compared to seedlings of dark purple seeds. Seed treatments with CP and EMF significantly increased the number of root nodules, and this effect was stronger in seedlings from dark purple seeds compared to those from yellow seeds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Techniques in Agriculture, Biology and Food Production)

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18 pages, 27676 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Changes in Agricultural Performance of Common Buckwheat Induced by Seed Treatment with Cold Plasma and Electromagnetic Field

by Anatolii Ivankov, Zita Naučienė, Laima Degutytė-Fomins, Rasa Žūkienė, Irena Januškaitienė, Asta Malakauskienė, Valdas Jakštas, Liudas Ivanauskas, Danuta Romanovskaja, Alvyra Šlepetienė, Irina Filatova, Veronika Lyushkevich and Vida Mildažienė

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(10), 4391; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11104391 - 12 May 2021

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 3238

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of pre-sowing seed treatment with cold plasma (CP) and an electromagnetic field (EMF) on the agricultural performance of two cultivars of common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench)—‘VB Vokiai’ and ‘VB Nojai’. For this, the effects of CP and EMF on seed germination, plant growth in the field, photosynthetic efficiency, biomass production, seed yield, and the amount of secondary metabolites and minerals in the harvested seeds were estimated. Although the percentage of seedlings that emerged under field conditions decreased by 11–20%, seed treatments strongly improved buckwheat growth and yield. Irrespective of differences in the dynamics of changes in the growth and photosynthetic activity between the two cultivars, the weight of seeds collected per plant for both cultivars was significantly higher (up to 70–97%) compared to the control. The biochemical composition of the harvested seeds (Fe, Zn, quercetin content) was also altered by seed treatments. Thus, pre-sowing treatment of buckwheat seeds with CP and EMF substantially stimulated plant growth in the field, increased biomass production, seed yield and nutritional quality. The results obtained strongly support the idea that plant seed treatment with physical stressors has great potential for use in agriculture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Techniques in Agriculture, Biology and Food Production)

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16 pages, 2961 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Decontamination of Food Packages from SARS-CoV-2 RNA with a Cold Plasma-Assisted System

by Filippo Capelli, Silvia Tappi, Tommaso Gritti, Ana Cristina de Aguiar Saldanha Pinheiro, Romolo Laurita, Urszula Tylewicz, Francesco Spataro, Giacomo Braschi, Rosalba Lanciotti, Federico Gómez Galindo, Valentina Siracusa, Santina Romani, Matteo Gherardi, Vittorio Colombo, Vittorio Sambri and Pietro Rocculi

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(9), 4177; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11094177 - 4 May 2021

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3322

Abstract

The accidental contamination of food and food packaging surfaces with SARS-CoV-2 is of increasing concern among scientists and consumers, particularly in relation to fresh foods that are consumed without further cooking. The use of chemical sanitizers is often not suitable for these kinds of commodities; therefore, a non-thermal sanitation technology could help to increase safety in relation to the food supply chain. Cold plasma has proven to be a promising strategy for virus inactivation. This research is aimed at evaluating the ability of a cold plasma sanitation system to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 RNA on packaged foods. Two different plastic materials were investigated and subjected to 5- and 10-min exposure to plasma after experimental inoculum of the RNA. In addition to viral degradation, possible changes in the performance of the materials were evaluated. Shelf-life of the foods, after exposure of the packages to plasma, was also investigated. Results showed that 10 min of exposure was sufficient to almost completely eliminate the viral RNA from package surfaces. The treatment did not produce any significant variation in packaging material performance or the shelf-life of the tested packaged products, indicating the potentiality of this treatment for the decontamination of packaged products. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Techniques in Agriculture, Biology and Food Production)

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15 pages, 2713 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Plasma-Activated Water Modulates Root Hair Cell Density via Root Developmental Genes in Arabidopsis thaliana L.

by Dong Hyeun Ka, Ryza Aditya Priatama, Joo Young Park, Soon Ju Park, Seong Bong Kim, In Ah Lee and Young Koung Lee

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(5), 2240; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11052240 - 3 Mar 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3009

Abstract

Low-temperature atmospheric pressure plasma technology has been used in agriculture and plant science by direct and indirect treatment of bio-samples. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms affected by plasma-activated water (PAW) are largely unexplored. In this study, PAW generated from a surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) device was used for plant development. Physicochemical analysis was performed to confirm the PAW properties that correlated with the plasma treatment time. Arabidopsis thaliana L. was utilized to study the effect of the PAW treatment in the early developmental stage. The plasma-activated water samples are denoted as PAW5 time in minutes (min), PAW7 min, PAW12 min, PAW19 min and PAW40 min with the plasma treatment time. Seedlings grown in the PAW5, PAW7 and PAW12 had increased root lengths while the root lengths were decreased in the PAW19 and PAW40. In the cellular level observation, the PAW treatment specifically increased the root hair numbers per unit of the root but suppressed the root hair length in the PAW, indicating that PAW mainly modulates the root hair cell density in the root. Furthermore, we found that the root hair density and length at PAW5 in maximal observed conditions were positively regulated by root developmental-related genes including COBRA-LIKE9 (COBL9), XYLOGLUCAN ENDOTRANSGLUCOSYLASE/HYDROLASE9 (XTH9), XTH17, AUXIN1 (AUX1) and LIKE-AUXIN (LAX3). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Techniques in Agriculture, Biology and Food Production)

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14 pages, 1650 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Non-Thermal Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet on Extracellular Activity of α-Amylase in Aspergillus oryzae

by Mayura Veerana, Eun Ha Choi and Gyungsoon Park

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(2), 691; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11020691 - 12 Jan 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2685

Abstract

In a previous study, we found that plasma can enhance spore germination and α-amylase secretion in A. oryzae, a beneficial fungus used in fermentation. To confirm this, in the current study, we investigated the effects of plasma on development and α-amylase secretion using an enlarged sample size and a different plasma source: a plasma jet. There was a ~10% (p < 0.01) increase in spore germination upon non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet (NTAPPJ) treatment for 5 min and 10 min, as compared with the control (no plasma treatment). The activity of α-amylase detected in potato dextrose broth (PDB) media during incubation was significantly elevated in plasma-treated samples, with a more obvious increase upon 10 min and 15 min treatments and 24–96 h incubation periods. The levels of the oxidation reduction potential (ORP) and NO_X (nitrogen oxide species) were higher in the plasma-treated samples than in the control samples, suggesting that these two variables could serve as standard indicators for enhancing α-amylase activity after plasma treatment. Genome sequencing analysis showed approximately 0.0016–0.0017% variations (changes in 596–655 base pairs out of a total of 37,912,014 base pairs) in the genomic DNA sequence of A. oryzae after plasma treatment. Our results suggest that NATPPJ can enhance the spore germination and extracellular activity of α-amylase, probably by increasing the levels of ORP and NO_X to an optimum level. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Techniques in Agriculture, Biology and Food Production)

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13 pages, 2890 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigation of the Impact of Cold Plasma Treatment on the Chemical Composition and Wettability of Medical Grade Polyvinylchloride

by Edward Bormashenko, Irina Legchenkova, Shiri Navon-Venezia, Mark Frenkel and Yelena Bormashenko

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(1), 300; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11010300 - 30 Dec 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2224

Abstract

The impact of the Corona, dielectric barrier discharge, and low pressure radiofrequency air plasmas on the chemical composition and wettability of medical grade polyvinylchloride was investigated. Corona plasma treatment exerted the most pronounced increase in the hydrophilization of polyvinylchloride. The specific energy of adhesion of the pristine and plasma-treated Polyvinylchloride (PVC) tubing is reported. Plasma treatment increased markedly the specific free surface energy of PVC. The kinetics of hydrophobic recovery following plasma treatment was explored. The time evolution of the apparent contact angle under the hydrophobic recovery is satisfactorily described by the exponential fitting. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of the chemical composition of the near-surface layers of the plasma-treated catheters revealed their oxidation. The effect of the hydrophobic recovery hardly correlated with oxidation of the polymer surface, which is irreversible and it is reasonably attributed to the bulk mobility of polymer chains. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Techniques in Agriculture, Biology and Food Production)

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19 pages, 4919 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

A Coaxial Dielectric Barrier Discharge Reactor for Treatment of Winter Wheat Seeds

by Thalita M. C. Nishime, Nicola Wannicke, Stefan Horn, Klaus-Dieter Weltmann and Henrike Brust

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(20), 7133; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10207133 - 13 Oct 2020

Cited by 32 | Viewed by 8328

Abstract

Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasmas have been recently explored for their potential usage in agricultural applications as an interesting alternative solution for a potential increase in food production with a minor impact on the ecosystem. However, the adjustment and optimization of plasma sources for agricultural applications in general is an important study that is commonly overlooked. Thus, in the present work, a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor with coaxial geometry designed for the direct treatment of seeds is presented and investigated. To ensure reproducible and homogeneous treatment results, the reactor mechanically shakes the seeds during treatment, and ambient air is admixed while the discharge runs. The DBD, operating with argon and helium, produces two different chemically active states of the system for seed modification. The temperature evolution was monitored to guarantee a safe manipulation of seeds, whereas a physiological temperature was assured by controlling the exposure time. Both treatments led to a remarkable increase in wettability and acceleration in germination. The present study showed faster germination acceleration (60% faster after 24 h) and a lower water contact angle (WCA) (82% reduction) for winter wheat seeds by using the described argon discharge (with air impurities). Furthermore, the treatment can be easily optimized by adjusting the electrical parameters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Techniques in Agriculture, Biology and Food Production)

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17 pages, 1647 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Atmospheric-Pressure Cold Plasma Treatment on Deoxynivalenol Degradation, Quality Parameters, and Germination of Barley Grains

by Ehsan Feizollahi, Basheer Iqdiam, Thava Vasanthan, Malinda S. Thilakarathna and M. S. Roopesh

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(10), 3530; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10103530 - 20 May 2020

Cited by 66 | Viewed by 7356

Abstract

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the major trichothecene mycotoxins commonly found in grains, in particular barley. This study focused on the reduction of DON concentration on barley samples using atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) treatment. The effects of moisture content, post-treatment storage, and relative humidity of air on DON degradation on barley were evaluated. Additionally, the germination and the quality parameters of barley, including protein content, β-glucan, and moisture content, were evaluated. The results showed that ACP treatment for 6 and 10 min reduced DON concentration by 48.9% and 54.4%, respectively. No significant differences were observed in the DON degradation levels by increasing the moisture content of barley from 9.5 to 15.7 g water/100 g sample and relative humidity of air from 12 to 60%. Steeping of barley grains without subsequent drying prior to ACP treatment significantly increased the degradation rate of DON by ACP due to the presence of water on the grain surface. No significant differences were observed for the tested quality parameters of barley in comparison with control samples. This study shows that ACP may offer an effective DON reduction in barley without affecting the quality attributes. However, ACP treatment parameters should be optimized to achieve a better DON reduction efficacy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Techniques in Agriculture, Biology and Food Production)

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16 pages, 2877 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Scalable Treatment of Flowing Organic Liquids Using Ambient-Air Glow Discharge for Agricultural Applications

by Vladislav Gamaleev, Naoyuki Iwata, Ginji Ito, Masaru Hori, Mineo Hiramatsu and Masafumi Ito

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(3), 801; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10030801 - 23 Jan 2020

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3620

Abstract

In this work, we developed a portable device with low production and operation costs for generating ambient-air glow discharge (AAGD) that is transferred to the surface of flowing liquid and demonstrated its applicability to practical use in agriculture. An experiment procedure that ensured the stable treatment of various liquids was established. Additionally, it was found that humidity did not have a significant effect on the treatment process, which makes the use of the developed device possible in various locations. It was found that an _L-phenylalanine solution treated with AAGD allows simultaneous 40% hydroponic radish-sprout growth promotion with a bactericidal effect. Further, scalability and practical-application possibilities in hydroponic plant growth were discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Techniques in Agriculture, Biology and Food Production)

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Review

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20 pages, 1119 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Effects of Plasma on Plant Growth, Development, and Sustainability

by Bhawana Adhikari, Manish Adhikari and Gyungsoon Park

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(17), 6045; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10176045 - 31 Aug 2020

Cited by 59 | Viewed by 12004

Abstract

Cold atmospheric or low pressure plasma has activation effects on seed germination, plant growth and development, and plant sustainability, and prior experimental studies showing these effects are summarized in this review. The accumulated data indicate that the reactive species generated by cold plasma at atmospheric or low pressure may be involved in changing and activating the physical and chemical properties, physiology, and biochemical and molecular processes in plants, which enhances germination, growth, and sustainability. Although laboratory and field experiments are still required, plasma may represent a tool for efficient adaptation to changes in the climate and agricultural environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Techniques in Agriculture, Biology and Food Production)

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