Effects of static magnetic fields on the germination and early growth of durum wheat seeds

Abstract

The effects of seed pre-treatment with static magnetic fields were evaluated using durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) seeds. The experimental setup consisted of a pair of Helmholtz coil designed to produce a uniform magnetic field up to 10 mT in a volume where a petri capsule containing up to 100 wheat seeds was placed. After the exposure of wheat seeds to the magnetic field, both the exposed and the unexposed (control) seeds were allowed to germinate in the dark under controlled conditions (temperature, pressure, humidity and salinity). After one week, the effects of the treatment were investigated. Our results provided evidence that seed pre-treatment increased the germination rate (over 90%), root/coleoptyle ratio (over 1.3) and vigor index (over 7).