Financial source: Junta de Andalucía Code: US-1381045 Acronym: PLASMASEED

Surface functionalization and diffusion models of germination factors in plasma-treated seeds Principal Investigator: María del Carmen López Santos y Antonio Prados  Period: 01-01-2021 / 31-12-2022 Research team: Agustín Rodríguez González-Elipe, Francisco Yubero Valencia

PLASMASEED addresses the inclusion of vacuum and plasma technology for the surface functionalization of seeds as an effective and clean strategy to make crops less dependent on environmental changes. The aim is to analyze the basic factors and mechanisms that affect the improvement of germination by treating the seeds from a multidisciplinary approach that combines basic concepts of biophysics, advanced characterization and vacuum and plasma processing. The effect of electric fields associated with plasmas and their physical-chemical features, the influence of the diffusion of other germination factors besides water (oxygen, light, etc.), the diffusion of nutrients such as nitrates or other species of interest for germination, etc., are experimental factors that are simulated using Monte Carlo procedures and statistical mechanics to propose holistic models of diffusion of germination factors through seed membranes and the influence of surface treatments by plasma techniques to modify and/or control such processes.