Romanian Reports in Physics 73, 602 (2021)

EFFECT OF ATMOSPHERIC NON-THERMAL PLASMA TREATMENT BY

DCSBD APPARATUS ON SUGAR BEET SEEDS

B. ŠERÁ1 , K. KRAUS2,a , F. HNILIČKA2,b , V. MEDVECKÁ3,a , A. ZAHORANOVÁ3,b , M. ŠERÝ4

1
Department of Landscape Ecology,
Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Natural Sciences,
Ilkovičova 6, Bratislava 842 15, Slovakia
Email: bozena.sera@uniba.sk
2
Department of Botany and Plant Physiology,
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources,
Kamycka 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Email:a krausk@af.czu.cz
Email:b hnilicka@af.czu.cz
3
Department of Experimental Physics,
Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics,
Mlynská dolina, Bratislava 842 48, Slovakia
Email:a veronika.medvecka@fmph.uniba.sk
Email:b anna.zahoranova@fmph.uniba.sk
4
Department of Applied Physics and Technics,
University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Education,
Jeronýmova 10, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Email: kyklop@pf.jcu.cz
Received May 15, 2020

Abstract. Sugar beet seeds (cultivars of Jagger and Neruda) were treated by
atmospheric non-thermal ambient air plasma generated using Diffuse Coplanar Surface
Barrier Discharge device. The exposure plasma treatment times were: 0 s, 1 s, 3 s, 5 s,
10 s, 30 s, and 60 s. The aim of this work was to verify the effect of plasma treatment
on germination and early growth parameters of the sugar beet seeds and to find opti-
mal parameters of plasma treatment. Test of seed germination and early growth test
were conducted in laboratory condition; eighteen characteristics of germinated seed
and growing seedling were observed. Shorter treatment times (1 s and 3 s) were bet-
ter suited for improving germination and initial growth parameters The difference in
plasma responses was noted between the two cultivars used, the Jagger cultivar was
judged as more suitable for this type of treatment.
Key words: cold plasma, seed germination, seedling, seed stimulation.

1. INTRODUCTION

New biotechnology may help to increase health of crop yield and is an innova-
tive technology in food industry and in medicine. Non-thermal plasma technologies
are new tools which are intensively studied on seed stimulation and seed decontami-
nation. Plasma is referred to as the fourth state of matter consisting of excited atoms
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Article no. 602 B. Šerá et al. 2

or molecules, ions, electrons, UV-visible radiations and neutrals; thus, they may in-
teract with various material surfaces.
Non-thermal plasma generated at atmospheric pressure is currently the subject
a lot of researches because it is very well applicable in surface treatment in practice.
The advantage of non-thermal plasma is that it does not need low-pressure equip-
ment for plasma generation and can be included into on-line lines to finishing surface
treatment. Plasma technologies do not use harmful chemicals, which have recently
become a serious problem for the environment. It is also suitable for heat-sensitive
materials such as plant seeds [1–4], as they will not be damaged by the interaction
with the surface [5]. On the other hand, the reactive plasma components (probably
reactive oxygen and nitrogen species) due to subsequent elemental reactions can trig-
ger certain phytohormonal processes that accelerate and improve growth parameters
of seedlings [6–8].
However, the results cannot be generalized, it always depends on the type of
plasma source [9] and plasma main parameters (temperature, density of particles,
composition depending on used gas, plasma source current and voltage, etc.) [9, 10].
The second important factor is the type (taxonomy) and properties of the seeds there
are treated using plasma [10], but also the seeds surface properties, size, embryo de-
position, and other [7]. Thereafter it is important to verify the impact of a particular
sample and a particular plasma source and to determine an optimal treatment time
that is effective [3–5, 11]. This was also the aim of this work, to verify the possi-
bility of treatment sugar beet seeds by non-thermal plasma generated at atmospheric
pressure in ambient air.
Despite its long cultivation history, sugar beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris
convar. vulgaris var. altissima) was grown as a sugar crop only from the second
half of the 18th century. With the continuous improvement of the quality of sugar
beet and the sugar production process, the sugar beet industry has developed rapidly.
Asgharipour et al. [12] reported that, approximately 30 % of the world’s supply of
sugar is now derived from sugar beet and the vast majority of which is produced in
industrialized countries.
Sugar beet is a crop that is no longer grown solely for sugar production, but
its application is much wider, since it can be used for more than 100 other products
[13, 14]. Erdal et al. [15] reported that, sugar beet is mainly used for human food,
livestock feed and in industry. The two main sources of sucrose (sugar) for human
consumption are sugar cane and sugar beet.
Sugar beets are mainly grown in cold regions of the northern hemisphere. This
crop is produced in more than 40 countries, mostly in Europe, followed by North
America and Asia. Of these, large growing areas for sugar beet are distributed in
Ukraine, France, the United States, Russia, Poland, Germany, and China. Within the
EU, beet is most grown in Germany, France, the UK and the Netherlands. The study
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3 Effect of atmospheric non-thermal plasma treatment by DCSBD apparatus Article no. 602

shows that the EU quota holder system is highly concentrated in some regions such
as Germany, France, the United Kingdom and, the Netherlands [16].
These include the production of biodegradable plastics, fiber additives to cho-
lesterol-lowering foods, saponins as biofungicides, beet fat in cosmetics, etc. With
the diversification of the production program for sugar beet and sugar, a number of
unconventional products appear in the world today, for example: sorbitol, mannitol,
beet pectin and fiber, inverted beet syrup, protein-rich sweetened cuttings. Sucrose
thus becomes a raw material for chemical and biochemical production [14] and for
energy recovery [17, 18].
The aim of this work was to determine what characteristics of germination
and initial growth will change in sugar beet seeds after application of non-thermal
plasma. Growth parameters of sugar beet seeds are an important factor influencing
their successful growth and development in the field. Above all, it is about overcom-
ing the soil drought that can occur after seed sowing. Some studies [3, 19–23] have
shown that non-thermal plasma seed treatment increases root biomass production in
seedlings. This could have a major impact on overcoming temporary field drought in
juvenile seedlings.

2. EXPERIMENTAL SECTION

2.1. PLASMA SOURCE

The samples of sugar beet seeds were treated by Diffuse Coplanar Surface Bar-
rier Discharge (DCSBD), consisting of two comb-like electrodes deposited on the
bottom side of the alumina-based dielectric barrier so that adjacent strips have op-
posite polarity. The system is cooled with high permittivity oil. Plasma is generated
on the surface of the alumina-based barrier as a large number of micro-discharges.
At sufficiently high supplied voltage, the surface of dielectric barrier is covered with
a thin layer of low temperature homogeneous plasma with an active plasma thick-
ness of 0.3 0.5 mm. Plasma is characterized by high volume power density (app.
80 W.cm 3 ) and high diffusiveness without the use of working gas. The size of the
discharge area is 20⇥8 cm and it is possible to process a relatively large amount of
seeds in short exposure times (in figure 1). The properties of the DCSBD plasma
source are described in more detail in [24, 25]. The homogeneity of the sample treat-
ment was ensured by stirring of samples during the process. The input power and
exposure times were 400 W and 1 s, 3 s, 5 s, 10 s, 30 s, 60 s, respectively.

2.2. SEEDS AND PLASMA PRE-TREATMENT

Two varieties of sugar beet registered in the Czech Republic were included in
the experiment: Jagger and Neruda. Diploid variety Jagger was registered in the
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Article no. 602 B. Šerá et al. 4

Fig. 1 – The scheme of DCSBD plasma source and treatment of sugar beet seeds.

Czech Republic in 2015. It is resistant to rhizomania. It is an early to medium late

variety, which has a root yield of medium high and sugar content medium to high.
The Neruda variety is a diploid variety, it was registered in 2016. It is resistant to
beet nematodes and rhizomania. It is a medium late variety that has a root yield
of medium to high, sugar content medium high. The seeds were obtained from the
company Strube CZ.
Time expositions of non-thermal plasma were used: 1 s, 3 s, 5 s, 10 s, 30 s,
60 s. Reference samples represented seeds without treatment (K) and seed samples
with an anti fungal commercial preparation treatment (KO) for the both sugar beet
varieties.

2.3. TEST OF SEED GERMINATION AND SEEDLING GROWTH

Each treated set of the 150 seeds was divided into five plastic Petri dishes
(90 mm in diameter), containing four layers of filter paper (KA 0/80) and 6 mL
of deionised water. All seeds were cultivated under dark in temperature of cca 20 C
for one week. The five Petri dishes (one had 30 seeds) represented five repetitions.
Two reference sets represented seeds without any treatment (K) and with anti fungal
treatment (KO). The methodology of seed cultivation was based on ISTA method-
ologies.
On the 6th day of the first seed germination we measured these characteristics:
numbers of germinated seeds, length of root and shoot, fresh weight of root and
shoot. The radicle protrusion of 1 mm was the criterium for the seed germination.
The seedling mass was dried in dryer (70 C for 48 hours). The fresh and dried
masses were weighed on laboratory scale (Sartorius, balance sensitivity 0.001 g).
Following characteristics: seed germination (%), germination rate (%), and
germination index were computed according to the Šerý et al. [26] from the number
of germinated seeds according to the formulas:

i Index of petri dish,

j Index of cultivation day,
k Index of germinated seed,
NPi (j) Number of germinated seeds per i-petri dish in j day,
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Seed germination (SG):

P5 NPi (j)
i=1 30
SG = ⇥ 100 [%]
5

Germination rate (GR):

P5 NPi (jbegin )
i=1 NP (j
i end )
GR = ⇥ 100 [%]
5

Germination index (GI):

P5 P NPi (j)
i=1 j=n1 ;n2 ;...nx j
GI = ⇥ 100
5

The length of seedling was obtained as summa of length of root and length of
shoot for each seedling; the fresh and dried weight of seedling was obtained in ob-
vious way. Root/shoot ratios were calculated from length (R/S length), fresh weight
(R/S fresh weight) and from dried weight (R/S dry weight).
Seedling vigor indexes were modify according to the definition Abdul Baki and
Anderson [27] and calculated according the following formulas:

lk (j) Length of seedling k-germinated seed in j day,

lkPi (j) Length of seedling, k-germinated seed per i-petri dish in j day,
fw
kPi Fresh weight of seedling k-germinated seed per i-petri dish,
dw
kPi Dried weight of seedling k-germinated seed per i-petri dish,

Mean length of seedling (l):

P5 lkPi (j)
i=1 30
l= [mm]
5

Seedling vigor index I. (SVI I.):

✓ P30 ◆
P5 NPi (j) k=1 lkpi (j)
i=1 30 ⇥ 30
SV I I. = [mm]
5

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Article no. 602 B. Šerá et al. 6

Fresh seedling weights (f w):

P5 P30 fw
f i=1 k=1 kPi
w= [mg]
5
Seedling vigor index II. (SVI II.):
P ⇣ 5 NPi (j) P30 fw
⌘
i=1 30 ⇥ k=1 kPi
SV I II. = [mg]
5

Dry seedling weights (d w):

P5 P30 dw
d i=1 k=1 kPi
w= [mg]
5
Seedling vigor index III. (SVI III):
P ⇣ 5 NPi (j) P30 dw
⌘
i=1 30 ⇥ k=1 kPi
SV I III. = [mg]
5

2.4. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

All data were analysed using the statistical package STATISTICA software
(Statistica 13). Logarithmic transformation (y = log(x)) of the basic data was used
for normalization before statistical analyses. Two-way ANOVA was used to evaluate
the influence of the plant cultivars (factor Beta) and the types of plasma pre-treatment
(factor Treatment). The detailed testing of experimental variances from each other
was done using the Tukey HSD test for multiple comparisons. All statistical tests
were performed at the significance level of 0.05.

3. RESULTS

3.1. TWO FACTORIAL ANALYSES

Results of factorial analyses are summarised in Table 1. It was found, that the
both single factors (Beta and Treatment) were important, because many significant
differences were observed in the characteristics (p < 0.05). Significant differences
were found above all in characteristics connected with number of germinated seeds,
length, and weight of fresh plant mass. On the other hand, the lowest was the fac-
tor combination (Beta*Treatment), because no significant difference was observed
(except length of root and length of seedling, Table 1).
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Table 1

Relationship among sugar beet cultivars (factor Beta), time of plasma treatment (factor Treatment) and
combination of the factors in relation to the investigated characteristics. Significant results are in bold.
Seed germination Germination rate Germination index
Factor DF
SS F p SS F p SS F p
Beta 1 170.10 0.58 0.449 1365.51 4.31 0.042 30.22 13.93 0.000
Treatment 7 68394.31 33.39 0.000 25099.28 11.32 0.000 1213.58 79.94 0.000
Beta*Treatment 7 1908.75 0.93 0.488 1762.35 0.79 0.595 15.75 1.04 0.414
Length of root Length of shoot Length of seedling
Factor DF
SS F p SS F p SS F p
Beta 1 24.05 45.93 0.000 5.32 5.51 0.022 51.99 20.19 0.000
Treatment 7 89.14 24.32 0.001 94.65 14.01 0.000 357.65 19.85 0.000
Beta*Treatment 7 14.56 3.97 0.001 10.35 1.53 0.173 46.23 2.56 0.021
Weight of fresh root Weight of fresh shoot Weight of fresh seedling
Factor DF
SS F p SS F p SS F p
Beta 1 0.01 1.87 0.176 0.65 33.93 0.000 0.85 21.28 0.000
Treatment 7 0.32 6.54 0.000 4.31 32.18 0.000 6.77 24.32 0.000
Beta*Treatment 7 0.03 0.64 0.724 0.22 1.64 0.140 0.34 1.21 0.313
Weight of dried root Weight of dried shoot Weight of dried seedling
Factor DF
SS F p SS F p SS F p
Beta 1 0.00 0.00 0.970 0.00 1.41 0.239 0.00 1.32 0.254
Treatment 7 0.00 3.18 0.006 0.06 2.39 0.031 0.07 2.91 0.010
Beta*Treatment 7 0.00 1.12 0.364 0.02 0.99 0.448 0.03 1.13 0.357
R/S_length R/S_fresh_weight R/S_dry_weight
Factor DF
SS F p SS F p SS F p
Beta 1 1.55 9.23 0.003 0.01 0.91 0.343 0.01 0.15 0.701
Treatment 7 4.06 3.45 0.003 0.61 7.92 0.000 1.27 2.03 0.064
Beta*Treatment 7 0.74 0.63 0.732 0.02 0.27 0.964 0.63 1.00 0.437
Seedling vigor index I. Seedling vigor index II. Seedling vigor index III.
Factor DF
SS F p SS F p SS F p
Beta 1 20.76 7.75 0.007 0.47 10.60 0.002 0.00 0.76 0.385
Treatment 7 383.93 20.48 0.000 6.90 22.14 0.000 0.08 3.19 0.006
Beta*Treatment 7 19.39 1.03 0.416 0.31 0.99 0.444 0.03 1.11 0.368

3.2. SEED GERMINATION

Seed germinations were not same in the tested sugar beet cultivars. Cultivar
Jagger had seed germination 90 % and cultivar Neruda 74 %. All three character-
istics connected with seed germination are presented in Table 2. The seeds treated
during 60 s had very low values (p < 0.05) in the both cultivars. The other treated sets
were usually without significant differences. The highest seed germination (97.33 %,
Neruda cultivar, 1 s treatment), germination rate (84.65 %, Neruda cultivar, KO con-
trol), and germination index (12.93, Neruda cultivar, KO control) did not differ from
control sets values (p < 0.05).
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Table 2

Characteristics of seed germination in sugar beet (Beta) cultivars after DCSBD plasma treatment.
Tukey HSD test was used. Significant differences at p < 0.05 are indicated by different letters. The
highest measured values are marked in bold. More details are in Experimental Section.

Germination (%) Germination rate (%) Germination index

Beta Treatment
Mean ± SD Mean ± SD Mean ± SD

K 90.00 ± 14.91 a 67.33 ± 10.38 a 10.50 ± 1.62 a

KO 90.00 ± 6.24 a 72.37 ± 9.39 a 11.03 ± 1.36 a
1s 94.67 ± 5.58 a 73.44 ± 11.51 a 11.73 ± 1.71 a
3s 72.00 ± 40.87 ab 54.77 ± 30.63 ab 10.00 ± 1.74 a
Jagger
5s 86.00 ± 14.22 a 67.07 ± 8.97 a 10.10 ± 1.96 a
10 s 91.33 ± 9.01 a 76.97 ± 6.09 a 11.57 ± 0.90 a
30 s 47.33 ± 11.64 b 74.42 ± 14.31 a 5.83 ± 1.44 b
60 s 8.67 ± 6.50 c 25.00 ± 25.00 b 0.63 ± 0.38 c
K 74.00 ± 42.06 ab 68.82 ± 38.90 a 11.57 ± 2.83 a
KO 96.00 ± 2.79 a 84.65 ± 6.37 a 12.93 ± 0.87 a
1s 97.33 ± 1.49 a 82.18 ± 5.69 a 12.87 ± 0.61 a
3s 91.33 ± 7.67 a 80.70 ± 8.50 a 11.97 ± 1.51 a
Neruda
5s 95.33 ± 3.80 a 84.45 ± 9.97 a 12.83 ± 1.31 a
10 s 94.00 ± 2.79 a 81.62 ± 8.74 a 12.37 ± 0.79 a
30 s 52.67 ± 19.64 b 75.04 ± 16.50 a 6.37 ± 1.87 a
60 s 2.67 ± 3.65 c 20.00 ± 27.39 b 0.33 ± 0.33 b

3.3. SEEDLING GROWTH

Characteristics connected with length and weight are summarised in Table 3.

The seeds of the both cultivars treated during 60 s had always very low values
(p < 0.05) in all observed characteristics. The seeds treated during 30 s had very
often low value that differs from other treatments and controls (p < 0.05). Differ-
ences between other samples treated with other times were generally not statistically
significant (p < 0.05).
The highest values of length of root, length of shoot, and length of seedling
were observed in Jagger cultivar in set treated during 1 s (3.95 cm, 3.76 cm, and
7.71 cm respectively). The highest weight of fresh root was observed in K control
of Neruda cultivar (0.24 mg) and weight of fresh shoot and seedling were in Jagger
cultivar set treated during 1 s (0.83 mg and 1.03 mg respectively). The highest weight
of dried root was in Neruda cultivar set treated during 3 s (0.03 mg) and highest
weight of dried shoot and seedling were in Jagger cultivar set treated during 1 s
(0.16 mg and 0.17 mg respectively, Table 3).
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3.4. R/S RATIOS AND SEEDLING VIGOR INDEXES

The final values of three characteristics of R/S and three characteristics of

seedling vigor indexes are summarised in Table 4. R/S ratio calculated from fresh
weight in the both sugar beet cultivars and R/S ratio calculated from dry weight in
Neruda cultivar had significant differences (p < 0.05). In seedling vigor indexes,
only sets within Neruda cultivar did not differ on statistically significant level in
seedling vigor index connected with dry weight (Seedling vigor index III., Table 4).
The highest values of R/S ratio calculated from length was found in Jagger
cultivar in set treated during 10 s, R/S ratio calculated from fresh and dry weight
were observed in Neruda cultivars in K control set and in set treated during 3 s (0.34
and 0.70 respectively). The highest values of all three seedling vigor indexes were
observed in Jagger cultivar sets treated during 1 s (7.36 cm, 0.98 mg, and 0.17 mg
respectively, Table 4).

4. DISCUSSION

No effect of plasma treatment on germination rate in soyabean (Glycine max)

has been shown according to Ling et al. [22]. On the other hand, the positive effect
of non-thermal plasma on seed germination was demonstrated many times in various
plant species, e.g. Carthamus tinctorius [1], Solanum lycopersicum [2, 28], Triticum
aestivum [19, 29], Cannabis sativa [30], and Papaver somniferum [11]. Non-thermal
plasma treatment using atmospheric pressure plasma is generally associated with
using of a short exposure time, as there was found in this study (Jagger cultivar,
Table 2). It is caused by high-density concentrations of the active plasma particles,
because most of the power supplied goes to a relatively small volume of plasma.
From the obtained results connected with the growth of sugar beet seedlings
of the both cultivars Jagger and Neruda it seems that shorter exposure time of non-
thermal plasma is more beneficial compared to longer term exposure. Many charac-
teristics of length and weight of shoot and seedlings were positive affected by non-
thermal plasma treatment for 1 s (Table 3), thus it can be stated that this treatment
promotes seedling growth and subsequent plant development in sugar beet Jagger
variety. This conclusion is exemplified on other plant species by Yin et al., Selcuk et
al., Zhou et al., Stolárik et al. [2, 3, 28, 31] etc. The Jagger cultivar is earlier com-
pared to the Neruda cultivar, the presented result is therefore more valuable. Early
varieties are more often exposed to bad weather, so the rate of biomass seedlings
formation is important [32].
Non-thermal plasma treatment was more pronounced in Jagger variety shoot
growth (Table 3), their length and weight, fresh and dry compared to root. The
opposite effect was observed in the seedlings of Triticum aestivum [19] and Zea mays
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Table 3

Characteristics of seedling growth in sugar beet (Beta) cultivars after DCSBD plasma treatment.
Tukey HSD test was used. Significant differences at p < 0.05 are indicated by different letters. The
highest measured values are marked in bold. More details are in Experimental Section.
Length of root (cm) Length of shoot (cm) Length of seedling (cm)
Beta Treatment
Mean ± SD Mean ± SD Mean ± SD
K 3.55 ± 0.88 a 3.71 ± 0.85 a 7.26 ± 1.39 a
KO 3.92 ± 0.45 a 3.44 ± 0.56 a 7.35 ± 0.81 a
1s 3.95 ± 0.95 a 3.76 ± 1.44 a 7.71 ± 2.38 a
3s 2.64 ± 1.49 a 1.86 ± 1.38 a 4.51 ± 2.72 a
Jagger
5s 3.57 ± 0.77 a 3.13 ± 1.03 a 6.70 ± 1.75 a
10 s 3.86 ± 0.31 a 2.73 ± 1.40 a 6.58 ± 1.70 a
30 s 3.82 ± 0.46 a 2.94 ± 0.87 a 6.76 ± 1.02 a
60 s 0.12 ± 0.11 b 0.17 ± 0.13 b 0.29 ± 0.22 b
K 2.79 ± 1.61 ad 3.93 ± 2.36 a 6.72 ± 3.92 a
KO 3.70 ± 0.42 a 3.47 ± 0.68 a 7.18 ± 1.08 a
1s 2.41 ± 0.36 cd 2.40 ± 0.33 ac 4.81 ± 0.66 ac
3s 2.03 ± 0.30 ac 1.90 ± 0.22 ac 3.93 ± 0.41 ac
Neruda
5s 2.47 ± 0.50 ac 2.50 ± 0.55 ac 4.97 ± 1.03 ac
10 s 2.24 ± 2.21 ac 2.39 ± 0.12 ac 4.63 ± 0.30 ac
30 s 0.95 ± 0.24 bc 0.98 ± 0.31 bc 1.93 ± 0.52 bc
60 s 0.06 ± 0.09 b 0.04 ± 0.06 b 0.10 ± 0.15 b
Weight of fresh root Weight of fresh shoot Weight of fresh
Beta Treatment (mg) (mg) seedling (mg)
Mean ± SD Mean ± SD Mean ± SD
K 0.20 ± 0.03 a 0.74 ± 0.15 ad 0.94 ± 0.15 ad
KO 0.19 ± 0.02 ab 0.81 ± 0.09 cd 0.10 ± 0.11 cd
1s 0.20 ± 0.06 a 0.83 ± 0.18 cd 1.03 ± 0.24 cd
3s 0.12 ± 0.09 ab 0.54 ± 0.31 ad 0.67 ± 0.39 ad
Jagger
5s 0.17 ± 0.04 ab 0.69 ± 0.14 ad 0.85 ± 0.17 ad
10 s 0.14 ± 0.04 ab 0.81 ± 0.05 cd 0.95 ± 0.07 ad
30 s 0.11 ± 0.03 ab 0.40 ± 0.09 a 0.50 ± 0.12 a
60 s 0.00 ± 0.00 b 0.00 ± 0.00 b 0.00 ± 0.00 b
K 0.24 ± 0.30 a 0.54 ± 0.31 a 0.78 ± 0.55 a
KO 0.19 ± 0.05 a 0.71 ± 0.09 a 0.90 ± 0.13 a
1s 0.11 ± 0.01 ab 0.49 ± 0.04 ac 0.59 ± 0.05 ac
3s 0.10 ± 0.02 ab 0.44 ± 0.05 ac 0.60 ± 0.07 ac
Neruda
5s 0.11 ± 0.01 ab 0.49 ± 0.06 ac 0.60 ± 0.08 ac
10 s 0.12 ± 0.01 ab 0.50 ± 0.04 ac 0.62 ± 0.05 ac
30 s 0.06 ± 0.02 ab 0.21 ± 0.04 bc 0.27 ± 0.05 bc
60 s 0.00 ± 0.00 b 0.00 ± 0.00 b 0.00 ± 0.00 b
Weight of dried root Weight of dried shoot Weight of dried
Beta Treatment (mg) (mg) seedling (mg)
Mean ± SD Mean ± SD Mean ± SD
K 0.01 ± 0.00 a 0.05 ± 0.01 ab 0.06 ± 0.01 ab
KO 0.02 ± 0.01 a 0.05 ± 0.01 ab 0.07 ± 0.01 ab
1s 0.02 ± 0.00 a 0.16 ± 0.23 b 0.17 ± 0.23 b
3s 0.01 ± 0.01 a 0.04 ± 0.02 ab 0.05 ± 0.05 ab
Jagger
5s 0.01 ± 0.01 a 0.05 ± 0.00 ab 0.06 ± 0.01 ab
10 s 0.01 ± 0.00 a 0.06 ± 0.01 ab 0.07 ± 0.01 ab
30 s 0.01 ± 0.00 a 0.05 ± 0.04 ab 0.05 ± 0.05 ab
60 s 0.00 ± 0.00 a 0.00 ± 0.00 a 0.00 ± 0.00 a
K 0.01 ± 0.01 a 0.04 ± 0.02 a 0.05 ± 0.05 a
KO 0.01 ± 0.00 a 0.05 ± 0.01 a 0.06 ± 0.01 a
1s 0.01 ± 0.01 a 0.05 ± 0.00 a 0.06 ± 0.06 a
3s 0.03 ± 0.04 a 0.05 ± 0.01 a 0.08 ± 0.08 a
Neruda
5s 0.01 ± 0.00 a 0.06 ± 0.01 a 0.07 ± 0.01 a
10 s 0.01 ± 0.00 a 0.05 ± 0.00 a 0.06 ± 0.01 a
30 s 0.01 ± 0.00 a 0.02 ± 0.01 a 0.03 ± 0.01 a
60 s 0.00 ± 0.00 a 0.00 ± 0.00 a 0.00 ± 0.00 a

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11 Effect of atmospheric non-thermal plasma treatment by DCSBD apparatus Article no. 602

Table 4

Characteristics of R/S ratios and seedling vigor indexes in sugar beet (Beta) cultivars after DCSBD
plasma treatment. Tukey HSD test was used. Significant differences at p < 0.05 are indicated by
different letters. The highest measured values are marked in bold. More details are in Experimental
Section.

R/S_length R/S_fresh_weight R/S_dry_weight

Beta Treatment
Mean ± SD Mean ± SD Mean ± SD
K 0.99 ± 0.33 a 0.28 ± 0.05 b 0.29 ± 0.07 a
KO 1.16 ± 0.20 a 0.23 ± 0.03 ab 0.45 ± 0.31 a
1s 1.23 ± 0.25 a 0.24 ± 0.03 b 0.23 ± 0.13 a
3s 1.32 ± 0.96 a 0.18 ± 0.12 ab 0.24 ± 0.16 a
Jagger
5s 1.21 ± 0.32 a 0.24 ± 0.02 b 0.28 ± 0.18 a
10 s 1.63 ± 0.56 a 0.18 ± 0.04 ab 0.22 ± 0.04 a
30 s 1.37 ± 0.33 a 0.27 ± 0.04 b 0.22 ± 0.15 a
60 s 0.62 ± 0.51 a 0.00 ± 0.00 a 0.00 ± 0.00 a
K 0.58 ± 0.35 a 0.34 ± 0.39 b 0.27 ± 0.15 ab
KO 1.09 ± 0.14 a 0.27 ± 0.05 b 0.27 ± 0.02 ab
1s 1.00 ± 0.10 a 0.22 ± 0.01 ab 0.19 ± 0.10 ab
3s 1.07 ± 0.16 a 0.22 ± 0.02 ab 0.70 ± 1.09 b
Neruda
5s 1.00 ± 0.09 a 0.22 ± 0.03 ab 0.22 ± 0.04 ab
10 s 0.94 ± 0.07 a 0.24 ± 0.02 b 0.24 ± 0.16 ab
30 s 1.01 ± 0.22 a 0.30 ± 0.04 b 0.23 ± 0.09 ab
60 s 0.52 ± 0.74 a 0.00 ± 0.00 a 0.00 ± 0.00 a
Seedling vigor index I. Seedling vigor index II. Seedling vigor index III.
Beta Treatment (cm) (mg) (mg)
Mean ± SD Mean ± SD Mean ± SD
K 6.57 ± 1.85 a 0.86 ± 0.24 ad 0.06 ± 0.02 ab
KO 6.65 ± 1.14 a 0.90 ± 0.15 ad 0.06 ± 0.01 ab
1s 7.36 ± 2.54 a 0.98 ± 0.27 ad 0.17 ± 0.23 b
3s 4.05 ± 2.46 a 0.60 ± 0.35 cd 0.05 ± 0.03 ab
Jagger
5s 5.93 ± 2.18 a 0.75 ± 0.24 ad 0.05 ± 0.01 ab
10 s 5.99 ± 1.57 a 0.87 ± 0.09 ad 0.06 ± 0.01 ab
30 s 3.18 ± 0.89 ab 0.25 ± 0.10 bc 0.02 ± 0.01 a
60 s 0.03 ± 0.03 b 0.00 ± 0.00 b 0.00 ± 0.00 a
K 6.24 ± 3.76 a 0.74 ± 0.56 a 0.05 ± 0.03 a
KO 6.91 ± 1.21 a 0.87 ± 0.14 a 0.06 ± 0.01 a
1s 4.68 ± 0.65 ac 0.58 ± 0.05 ac 0.06 ± 0.00 a
3s 3.61 ± 0.62 ac 0.49 ± 0.09 ac 0.07 ± 0.02 a
Neruda
5s 4.72 ± 0.87 ac 0.57 ± 0.08 ac 0.06 ± 0.01 a
10 s 4.35 ± 0.34 ac 0.58 ± 0.06 ac 0.06 ± 0.01 a
30 s 1.08 ± 0.56 bc 0.15 ± 0.07 bc 0.02 ± 0.01 a
60 s 0.01 ± 0.01 b 0.00 ± 0.00 b 0.00 ± 0.00 a

[20]. Similar conclusions are also made in the case of Raphanus sativus [21], Glycine
max [22], and Pisum sativum [3].
There are very close relationships between total root mass and total shoot mass,
roots and shoots have the co-ordination of growth. In achieving high productivity
root crops are able to maintain and balance between root and shoot activity because
in root crops the main sink is underground, photosynthesises are actively distributed,
also via roots [33, 34]. Generally there are larger roots than shoots on seedling stage
and the ratio is different during growth season [35].
Plasma had no significant effect on R/S ratio of sugar beet (Table 4). The R/S
ratio values were probably influenced by the used varieties (Table 4), where a higher
(c) 2021 RRP 73(0) 602 - v.2.0*2021.3.10 —ATG
Article no. 602 B. Šerá et al. 12

ratio was found for the Jagger variety, which is earlier than Neruda variety. Benjamin
et al. [32] found leading to an increase in the R/S ratio for Zea mays as water deficit
stress increased at all growth stages.
Dobrin et al., Filatova et al., and Šerá et al. [19, 36, 37] reported that in the case
of Triticum aestivum seed treatment, the R/S ratio of the germinated plants increases
compared to the untreated plants. This trend is due to the increased of the root system
in treated seeds compared to above-ground biomass, as exemplified by Ling et al.
[22]. Positive effects of plasma seed treatment on the ratio between the root system
and the aerial part have also been found in Raphanus sativus, as evidenced by Mihai
et al. [23].
Seed vigour is an important quality parameter which needs to be assessed to
supplement germination and viability tests to gain in sight into the performance of
a seed lot in the field or in storage [38]. A positive trend in the vitality indexes (all
three characteristics) was found only in the cultivar Jagger (Table 4).

5. SUMMARY

The results of the eighteen characteristics on seed germination and seedling

early growth were expressed in different units, and the information produced by a
complex test is well comparative. Moreover, it is reasonable to consider that only
one characteristic cannot detect effect of DCSBD plasma treatment on seed. We can
summarize, that short time of non-thermal plasma treatment may positively changed
sugar beet seed. Plasma technology as an alternative way of pre-treatment of seeds
without the use of harmful chemicals could be useful in the treatment of agriculturally
important seeds.

Acknowledgements. This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development
Agency under the contract No. APVV-16-0216.

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