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A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Biosystem and Biological Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 27983

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Koichi Takaki

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1. Faculty of Science and Engineering, Iwate University, Iwate 020 8550, Japan
2. Agri-Innovation Center, Iwate University, Iwate 020 8550, Japan
Interests: pulsed power; high-voltage; plasma; electrical discharge; bio-application
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Prof. Dr. Nobuya Hayashi

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Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyusyu University, Kasuga, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
Interests: pulsed power; high-voltage; plasma; electrical discharge; bio-application
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Dr. Douyan Wang

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Guest Editor

Institute of Industrial Nanomaterials, Kumamoto University, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan
Interests: pulsed power; high-voltage; plasma; electrical discharge; bio-application
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Prof. Dr. Kazunori Koga

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Co-Guest Editor

Institute of Fluid Science Nanoscale Flow Research Division Biological Nanoscale Reactive Flow Laboratory, Tohoku University, Fukuoka 8190395, Japan
Interests: plasma agriculture; plasma diagnotics; DLC
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The food supply chain from farm to consumers is important for a sustainable society. The agricultural and food industries must continually adapt to meet the demands of a growing population, both in terms of nutrition and of consumer expectations. This must be achieved within the confines of the resources available. Innovative technologies with regard to food production are required to meet the emerging challenges of food safety in the complexities of the modern food supply chain. High-voltage and plasma applications in agricultural and food processing industries are a promising candidate for innovative technology which contributes to a sustainable food supply chain. To accelerate the progress of this new technology, sharing information related to high-voltage and plasma applications in agriculture and food processing is important. Please share your success stories from research in pulsed-power, high-voltage, and plasma regions in this Special Issue. Submissions on (but not limited to) the following topics are invited: 1) innovative and novel applications of high-voltage and plasma technology in agriculture; 2) pulsed-power generators and plasma devices for agricultural applications; 3) interaction between pulse-electric fields (or plasma) and metabolism of plants; 4) inactivation of pathogenic bacteria; and 5) maintaining the freshness of agricultural produce in the post-harvest phase.

Dr. Koichi Takaki
Dr. Nobuya Hayashi
Dr. Douyan Wang
Prof. Dr. Kazunori Koga
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

high-voltage
plasma
pulsed power
seed germination
seedling growth
soil remediation
agricultural produce
keeping freshness
enzyme activity

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 9360 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigation of Sterilization Effect for Overlapping Pieces in Non-Thermal Sterilization Method of Packaged Fresh Foods Using Pulsed Barrier Discharge

by Koki Saito, Takafumi Onuma, Daichi Ota, Yoshihiro Sato and Yasushi Minamitani

Agronomy 2022, 12(4), 822; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12040822 - 28 Mar 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1534

Abstract

It is important to secure food safety. If a packaged food can be sterilized, food poisoning can be reduced considerably because the packaged food in a plastic container is useful to prevent attaching microorganisms. However, a fresh food, e.g., a salad or sashimi, cannot be sterilized by thermal sterilization. Therefore, we are studying sterilization methods for packaged fresh foods, such as packed salads. In this study, we have investigated the applicable probability of the sterilization method using cold plasma applied to the packaged fresh food. Especially, we have investigated the probability of the sterilization of microorganisms living in a small hollow between the overlapped fresh foods. A plastic petri dish with a lid was used for simulating the plastic container. The cold plasma was applied into the petri dish by a barrier discharge generated by a pulsed voltage. E. coli was used for a target of sterilization. The E. coli was set on a culture agar medium instead of the salad. The experimental results showed that the sterilization method combining the plastic film and cold plasma of the barrier discharge generated by the pulsed voltage is applicable to sterilize microorganisms living in the hollow between the overlapped fresh foods for the packaged fresh food. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied High-Voltage Plasma Technologies in Agricultural Industry)

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19 pages, 2606 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Variations in Plant Growth Characteristics Due to Oxygen Plasma Irradiation on Leaf and Seed

by Nobuya Hayashi and Kyotaro Yamamoto

Agronomy 2022, 12(2), 259; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12020259 - 20 Jan 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1872

Abstract

Gene expression variations of plant leaf are investigated by irradiating seed and leaf with oxygen or air plasmas. Enhancement of leaf growth is induced by oxygen plasma irradiation on seeds, which is supported by increased gene expression for protein synthesis, oxidative-reduction reactions, and decreased gene expression concerning DNA methylation and histone modification. Suppression of leaf growth is observed by the oxygen plasma, which would be owing to increased gene expression concerning heat shock protein and redox reaction, and decreased expression of photosynthesis and glycoprotein. Moreover, gene expression variation due to air plasma irradiation is almost the same as that of oxygen plasma. Active oxygen species are major factors in both oxygen and air plasmas for the variation of gene expressions in plants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied High-Voltage Plasma Technologies in Agricultural Industry)

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20 pages, 3146 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Growth Properties and Sensitivities to Various Bactericidal Methods of Cold-Tolerant Microorganisms Isolated from Packed Tofu

by Masayoshi Matsui, Takanori Tanino, Misato Ito, Chihiro Nomura, Alexis Guionet, Katsuyuki Takahashi, Koichi Takaki and Takayuki Ohshima

Agronomy 2022, 12(2), 233; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12020233 - 18 Jan 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2448

Abstract

Disinfection and sterilization against cold-tolerant microorganisms are very important for enhancing food safety and hygiene management under refrigeration conditions. We isolated Exiguobacterium sp. and Pantoea sp. from an immersion solution of packed tofu and evaluated their growth properties and sensitivities to various bactericidal methods. These microorganisms were classified as psychrotrophic bacteria, according to their ability to grow at 4 °C, with an optimum growth temperature of 30 °C. Exiguobacterium sp. and Pantoea sp. were more sensitive to heat and sodium hypochlorite than Escherichia coli (E. coli). Exiguobacterium sp. was sensitive to acetic acid and citric acid, while Pantoea sp. was relatively insensitive and E. coli was insensitive to these organic acids. All microorganisms used in this study were resistant to sodium hydroxide solution (pH 8.00). Exiguobacterium sp. showed resistance to ozonated water and UV; therefore, particular attention should be paid to the contamination of this microorganism in food factories. Both Exiguobacterium sp. and Pantoea sp. were inactivated by pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment that did not cause lethal damage to E. coli. The results obtained in this study suggest that the bactericidal methods targeting the fragile cell membrane with high permeability are effective for the inactivation of cold-tolerant microorganisms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied High-Voltage Plasma Technologies in Agricultural Industry)

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16 pages, 3627 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Pulsed Electric Fields on Photosynthesis in Light/Dark-Acclimated Lettuce

by Douyan Wang, Yu Hayashi, Takahiro Enoki, Kenta Nakahara, Tetsuya Arita, Yuya Higashi, Yasuharu Kuno, Tatsuya Terazawa and Takao Namihira

Agronomy 2022, 12(1), 173; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12010173 - 11 Jan 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2226

Abstract

Recent years have seen numerous studies into how applying pulsed high electric fields (PEF) to living organisms induces various stress reactions. Plants produce glucose through photosynthesis and use this as a source of energy for living, yet there are few studies on the photosynthetic response characteristics when PEF is applied to growing plants. In this study, the photosynthetic response when electric fields of 10 to 100 V/mm were applied to light and dark-acclimated leaves of lettuce was measured by combined gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence, and the exposure time was kept constant at 500 s. The responses to PEF with regard to the photosynthetic parameters of electron transfer rate (ETR), non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), photosynthetic rate (A), and transpiration rate (E) were recorded during the experiment. Results showed that PEF can cause both the activation and deactivation of photosynthetic activity in lettuce, that there is an optimum value for activation, and that the application of excessive energy leads to inactivation. This study also found that stomata on both active and deactivated lettuce had been open to a greater extent than lettuce to which PEF had not been applied. All the results of statistical significance in this study were p < 0.05 and p < 0.01. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied High-Voltage Plasma Technologies in Agricultural Industry)

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8 pages, 1628 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Mutation of Bacillus velezensis Using Corona Discharge

by Ranran Wang, Wei Bian, Zhuran Hu, Lirong Wang, Chunhong Yuan, Katsuyuki Takahashi and Koichi Takaki

Agronomy 2022, 12(1), 166; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12010166 - 10 Jan 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1513

Abstract

Bacillus velezensis is a kind of beneficial bacteria that is widely used in agriculture industry. Bacillus velezensis was irradiated with corona discharge generated by a needle-array high-voltage electrode. The results showed an improvement of activity of Bacillus velezensis by the corona discharge treatment was confirmed at an optimum input energy. Mutation of the Bacillus velezensis by the corona discharge treatment was also confirmed through an rRNA sequence alignment analysis. The enzyme activity of the mutated bacteria was greatly improved, which was a positive effect that can meet the production demand. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied High-Voltage Plasma Technologies in Agricultural Industry)

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11 pages, 1695 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cultivation of Edible Tropical Bolete, Phlebopus spongiosus, in Thailand and Yield Improvement by High-Voltage Pulsed Stimulation

by Jaturong Kumla, Nakarin Suwannarach and Saisamorn Lumyong

Agronomy 2022, 12(1), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12010115 - 3 Jan 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2774

Abstract

Tropical bolete, Phlebopus spongiosus, is an edible ectomycorrhizal mushroom indigenous to northern Thailand. This mushroom has the ability to produce fruiting bodies without the need for a host plant. In this study, the technological cultivation of P. spongiosus was developed. Cultivation experiments indicated that fungal mycelia could completely colonize the cultivation substrate over a period of 85–90 days following inoculation of liquid inoculum. Primordia were induced under lower temperatures, high humidity and a 12-h photoperiod. Mature fruiting bodies were developed from young fruiting bodies within a period of one week. Consequently, yield improvement of P. spongiosus cultivation was determined by high-voltage pulsed stimulation. The results indicated that the highest degree of primordial formation, number of mature fruiting bodies and total weight values were obtained in cultivation experiments involving a high voltage of 40 kV. The total weight of the mushrooms increased by 1.4 times after applying high-voltage pulses when compared with the control. Additionally, the results revealed that the size of the fruiting body and the proximate composition of the fruiting bodies from high-voltage stimulation treatments were not different from the control. This research provides valuable information concerning successful cultivation techniques and yield improvement by high-voltage pulsed stimulation for the large-scale commercial fruiting body production of P. spongiosus. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied High-Voltage Plasma Technologies in Agricultural Industry)

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13 pages, 5678 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of WOA–SVR in Seed Vigor of High-Voltage Electric Field Treatment on Aged Cotton (Gossypium spp.) Seeds

by Zhanhua Song, Junxiang Ma, Qian Peng, Baoji Liu, Fade Li, Xiangyun Sun, Mochen Liu and Yinfa Yan

Agronomy 2022, 12(1), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12010088 - 30 Dec 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1406

Abstract

When seeds are treated with a high-voltage electric field (HVEF) to improve seed vigor, due to the large differences in the biological electromagnetic effects on different types of seeds, the methods of variance analysis and regression analysis based on data statistics are generally used to construct the optimal electric field dose prediction model; however, the generalization performance of the prediction model tends to be poor. To solve this problem, the electric intensity, frequency and treatment time were taken as the input variables for hybrid support vector regression (SVR) analysis to establish the prediction model of the seed comprehensive germination index. The whale optimization algorithm (WOA) was used to optimize the kernel parameters of the SVR. The optimized hybrid WOA–SVR model predicted the optimal comprehensive germination index of aged cotton (Gossypium spp.) seeds to be 329, the optimal HVEF dosage was 3.64 kV/cm × 99 s, and the frequency was 1.4 Hz. The aged cotton seeds were treated with the optimal HVEF and the germination test was carried out. Compared with the check (CK), the comprehensive germination index of seeds increased by 48%. The research results provided a new method and new idea for the optimal design of parameters for seed treatment with HVEF. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied High-Voltage Plasma Technologies in Agricultural Industry)

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9 pages, 582 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Gliding Arc Plasma Treatment of Maize (Zea mays L.) Grains Promotes Seed Germination and Early Growth, Affecting Hormone Pools, but Not Significantly Photosynthetic Parameters

by Božena Šerá, Radomíra Vanková, Karel Roháček and Michal Šerý

Agronomy 2021, 11(10), 2066; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11102066 - 14 Oct 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2272

Abstract

Maize grains (Zea mays convar. Indentata Sturt.) were treated with non-thermal plasma, where Gliding Arc plasma discharge at an atmospheric pressure was used (working gas: Air; time duration: 0 s, 180 s, 300 s, 600 s). The experiment was conducted at a temperature of 18 °C, light/dark 12/12 h, and a light intensity of 100 µmol/m²s. Seed germination, seedling growth, photosynthetic parameters, and hormone (abscisic acid, jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, indole-3-acetic acid, and cytokinin) contents were measured. The highest stimulation of seed germination (to 141%), root length (to 221%), shoot length (to 298%), and root weight (to 122%) in comparison with the control was recorded after Gliding Arc plasma treatment for 600 s. The photochemical and non-photochemical Chl fluorescence parameters were not significantly affected by Gliding Arc plasma treatment. In contrast, hormonal pools in maize were significantly affected. The short-term plasma treatment (180 s) was associated with a decrease in the stress hormones abscisic acid, salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, and jasmonate isoleucine, while indole-3-acetic acid and cytokinin precursors were elevated. Longer-term treatment (300 s, 600 s) had an opposite effect—an elevation of abscisic acid, jasmonic acid, and jasmonate isoleucine as well as active cytokinins. The content of auxin decreased. Gliding plasma treatment may significantly affect maize physiology, dependent on the treatment duration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied High-Voltage Plasma Technologies in Agricultural Industry)

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7 pages, 1281 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

The Effect of Gaseous Ozone Generated by Surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge on the Decay and Quality of Stored Onion Bulbs

by Junghyun Lim, Jong-Seok Song, Sangheum Eom, Jung Woo Yoon, Sang-Hye Ji, Seong Bong Kim and Seungmin Ryu

Agronomy 2021, 11(6), 1058; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11061058 - 25 May 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1947

Abstract

An effective and eco-friendly technology is needed to prevent postharvest loss of onion bulbs during cold storage. This study investigated the effect of gaseous ozone on the decay and quality of onion bulbs during storage at 2 °C and 70% relative humidity for two months. Gaseous ozone was adjusted to a concentration of 1.27 ± 0.024 ppm in the storage room by generating a high voltage discharge in air. After two months of storage, gaseous ozone significantly reduced the counts of aerobic bacteria (e.g., Rahnella aquatilis) and fungi (e.g., yeast and mold) in the onion bulbs by 4 log (CFU g⁻¹) and 0.92 log (CFU g⁻¹) compared with those of an untreated control, respectively. The microbial reduction by gaseous ozone resulted in a lower rotten rate of the onion bulbs, which was less than 20.0% compared with that of the untreated control. Moreover, the ozone exposure extended the storage life of the onion bulbs by delaying its color change and softening during storage. Our results suggest that gaseous ozone can control the decay of onion bulbs safely during storage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied High-Voltage Plasma Technologies in Agricultural Industry)

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16 pages, 2877 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Effect of H₂O-Based Low-Pressure Plasma (LPP) Treatment on the Germination of Bambara Groundnut Seeds

by Naeem Ahmed, Asad Masood, Kim S. Siow, M. F. Mohd Razip Wee, Rahmat Zaki Auliya and Wai Kuan Ho

Agronomy 2021, 11(2), 338; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11020338 - 14 Feb 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4931

Abstract

In general, seed germination is improved by low-pressure plasma (LPP) treatment using precursors such as air, nitrogen, argon, or water (H₂O). Here, H₂O-based LPP treatment using the optimized parameters of 10 W and 10 s improves the germination of Bambara groundnut seeds by 22%. LPP increases the wettability and roughness of the seed hilum while oxidizing the surface with carboxyl and amine groups. In this H₂O-based treatment of Bambara groundnut seeds, combinatory etching and chemical modification facilitated the imbibition process and increased the germination percentage. The success of this method has the potential to be scaled up to solve food security with seeds otherwise facing germination-related issues. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied High-Voltage Plasma Technologies in Agricultural Industry)

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Review

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22 pages, 374 KiB

Open AccessReview

Outcomes of Pulsed Electric Fields and Nonthermal Plasma Treatments on Seed Germination and Protein Functions

by Pankaj Attri, Takamasa Okumura, Kazunori Koga, Masaharu Shiratani, Douyan Wang, Katsuyuki Takahashi and Koichi Takaki

Agronomy 2022, 12(2), 482; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12020482 - 15 Feb 2022

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3672

Abstract

To meet the needs of the hungry population, it is critical to boost agricultural product production while minimizing contaminated waste. The use of two nonthermal technologies, pulsed electric field (PEF) and nonthermal plasma (NTP), is increasing every day. As both PEF and NTP are relatively newer areas, there is limited knowledge about these two technologies and their modes of action. Studies showed that PEF treatment on the plant seeds helps germination and seedling growth. The positive impact of PEF intensity is highly dependent on the seed coat type and plant species. Another nonthermal technology, NTP, affects seed germination, seedling growth, yield, and resilience to abiotic stress when generated at varying pressures with and without different feed gases. Early germination, germination rate, and germination percentage were all improved when the seedlings were treated with NTP. Similarly to the PEF treatment, NTP had a negative or no effect on germination. This review examined the effects of PEF and NTP on seed germination and analyzed the situation and mechanism behind the positive or negative effect. Deactivation of proteins and enzymes to extend the shelf life of beverages is another prominent application of PEF and NTP. The interaction of PEF and NTP with proteins aids in understanding the microscopic mechanism of these technologies. Therefore, we covered in this review the potential structural and functional changes in proteins/enzymes as a result of PEF and NTP, as well as a comparison of the benefits and drawbacks of these two technologies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied High-Voltage Plasma Technologies in Agricultural Industry)

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