The Effects of Ozone Exposure on Aged Soybean Seeds Stored in Different Packaging

Abstract

This article describes an idea about improving the aged soybean seed quality through ozone application based on the consideration that the ozone's oxidative and reactive nature could preserve agriculture commodities during storage. Using soybean seeds that were naturally aged in room temperature storage (25±5°C) for two months, gaseous ozone's efficacy in rejuvenating the aged seeds was examined. The aged seeds were divided into three different packages: open container, polypropylene woven sack, and vacuum polyethylene plastic. Gaseous ozone at a capacity of 150 g/h was continuously exposed on packaged seeds during six months of storage under low temperature (18±5°C). The authors found that ozone in specific limit exposure could improve physiological characteristics and inhibit some chemical properties deterioration of aged soybean seeds during storage. Our technique allows for improvement in germination percentage and germination rate of aged seeds in the fourth month of ozone exposure (p<0.05). However, these physiological parameters decreased significantly in the sixth month of ozone exposure, signing that prolonged ozone exposure would lead to adverse effects due to excessive oxidation. The result also showed that ozone storage significantly retard the elevation of moisture and free fatty acid content of aged soybean seeds. The ozone effectiveness evaluation is confirmed in all packaging conditions, but the vacuum packaging offered better preservation on almost entirely seed quality parameters during storage, except for protein. This research result provides a promising technique to restore aged seed quality and can be used for better seed provision in the seed industry.