The effect of two novel technologies, also in combination, on germination and growth of soybeans has been investigated. On one side, ultrasound treatment of the seeds increased water uptake without altering the morphology and the wettability of the seed coat, but also induced slight chemical modifications of the outer part of the seed. Plasma-activated water (PAW), obtained from treating water with non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma in air, increased the rate of germination and subsequent plant growth. Different combinations of these two technologies were tested in order to study their interaction and to identify an optimum treatment process.

Industrial relevance

A great urgency in crop management is to enhance sustainability. The aim is to achieve a cheap and eco-friendly production process reducing the wide current use of energy, irrigation water, chemicals and pesticides. Soybeans is a legume whose worldwide production is increasing in the last years therefore a higher efficiency and sustainability in its cultivation is obviously very appealing. Cold plasma and Ultrasound technologies are well-known in the industrial scenario and their applications in crop production are recently drawing attention; the potential of combining these two powerful techniques is clearly very promising.

中文翻译：

---

等离子活化水和机载超声处理可增强大豆的发芽和生长

已经研究了两种新技术（也结合使用）对大豆发芽和生长的影响。一方面，种子的超声处理增加了水的吸收，而没有改变种皮的形态和可湿性，但是也引起了种子外部的轻微化学修饰。通过用空气中的非热大气压等离子体处理水而获得的等离子体活化水（PAW）可提高发芽率和随后的植物生长。测试了这两种技术的不同组合，以研究它们的相互作用并确定最佳的治疗过程。

行业相关性

作物管理的紧迫性是增强可持续性。目的是实现一种廉价且环保的生产工艺，以减少目前广泛使用的能源，灌溉水，化学药品和杀虫剂。大豆是一种豆科植物，近几年来全世界的产量都在增加，因此，其种植的更高效率和可持续性显然是非常有吸引力的。冷等离子体和超声技术在工业场景中是众所周知的，近来它们在作物生产中的应用引起了人们的关注。结合这两种强大技术的潜力显然非常有前途。