Influence of Cold Plasma Priming on Certain Traits of Durum Wheat Plants under Salinity Conditions

Abstract

The application of cold plasma as an environmentally friendly, efficient, and cost-effective method has garnered interest for its potential to alleviate the deleterious effects of abiotic stress on plants. This study investigates the impact of nitrogen oxide (NO) cold plasma treatment on wheat (Triticum durum Desf. ‘GAP’) seed germination, seedling growth, and pigment composition under salinity stress conditions. Seeds were exposed to NO cold plasma for 0, 5, 10, and 15 minutes and subsequently sown in Petri dishes with sodium chloride (NaCl) concentrations of 0, 100, 150, and 200 mM to assess morphological and physiological responses between the 7th and 10th days of germination. Results indicated that cold plasma treatment significantly enhanced germination rates and seedling growth under both control and saline conditions, with the 15-min exposure yielding the most pronounced improvements. However, cold plasma treatment alone either decreased leaf pigment content or had no significant effect, whereas under salinity stress, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, and carotenoid levels showed varied increases with treatment duration. Conversely, anthocyanin levels decreased under salt stress with plasma treatment. The differential effects on pigment composition highlight a complex interaction between cold plasma treatment and plant physiological responses under abiotic stress, suggesting avenues for further research into optimizing treatment protocols for agricultural resilience. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on cold plasma applications in agriculture, offering insights into sustainable practices that could mitigate the impacts of global challenges like soil salinity on crop production.