Effect of High-Voltage Atmospheric Cold Plasma Treatment on Germination and Heavy Metal Uptake by Soybeans (Glycine max)

Abstract

The need to feed 9.9 billion people by 2050 will require the coordination of farming practices and water utilization by nutrient-dense plants and crops. High levels of lead (Pb), a toxic element that can accumulate in plants, can lead to toxicity in humans. With the development of novel treatment technologies, such as atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) and engineered nanoparticles (NPs), the time to germination and levels of heavy metals in food and feed commodities can be reduced. This study provides insight into the impact of plasma-activated water (PAW) on the germination rates and effects of soybean seeds, and the resultant combination effects of zinc oxide uptake in the presence of lead. Soybean seedlings were watered with PAW (treated for 3, 5, and 7 min at 30, 50, and 70 kV), and the germination and growth rate were monitored for 10 days. The germinated seedlings were then grown hydroponically in a nutrient solution, and the biomass of each example was measured. The PAW treatment that resulted in the best growth of soybean seeds was then exposed to Pb and zinc-oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) to investigate heavy metal uptake in the presence of nanoparticles. After acid digestion, the rate of heavy metal uptake by the soybean plants was evaluated using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The PAW seeds grew and germinated more quickly, demonstrating that the plasma therapy had an effect. The rate of heavy metal uptake by the plants was also shown to be 5x lower in the presence of ZnONP.

An IoT-Based Data-Driven Real-Time Monitoring System for Control of Heavy Metals to Ensure Optimal Lettuce Growth in Hydroponic Set-Ups

“…The impact of biodegradable chelating agents SS-EDDS on heavy metal absorption when growing sunflowers in hydroponic solution was researched in [ 11 ], and it was determined that it improved the uptake of non-essential metals from the solution. On a similar vein, Mahanta et al [ 12 ] did a study for growing soybeans in hydroponic solution and discovered that seeds treated with plasma activated water had a significantly lower absorption of heavy metals than seeds treated with tap water. Michalska et al investigated the influence of lead and cadmium on the growth of three lettuce variations in hydroponic culture and how it affected the absorption of macro and micronutrients in their root and shoot tissues [ 13 ].…”

Exogenous SA Affects Rice Seed Germination under Salt Stress by Regulating Na+/K+ Balance and Endogenous GAs and ABA Homeostasis

“…Seed germination is not only the beginning of plant growth and development, but is also a key link that determines the quality of seedling growth [ 13 ]. However, seed germination is susceptible to many factors, such as drought [ 14 ], light [ 15 ], temperature [ 16 ], saline–alkaline [ 17 ], and heavy metals [ 18 ]. Unsuitable environmental conditions can readily compromise seed germination rate, leading to weak seedling growth.…”

Can Machine Learning classifiers be used to regulate nutrients using small training datasets for aquaponic irrigation?: A comparative analysis

“…Another major advantage of aquaponics over conventional farming techniques is that it utilizes only 2 to 10% of the water required in traditional vegetables or crop production and has the potential to produce 10 times more output without the use of harmful chemicals and pesticides [ 3 ]. There have been a few studies in which laboratory set-ups have been used to optimize nutrients for growing plants in hydroponic environments [ 4 ] through controlled set-ups but not a lot has been done to implement them on a larger scale. Although aquaponics has been a topic of research for nearly two decades, very little has been done to automate the process of nutrient control for optimal growth of both fish (the key source of nutrients for an aquaponic farm) and plants in a commercial set-up.…”