Effects of electro technologies on the germination of barley seeds

Annotation Barley is one of the oldest domesticated food sources and currently a widely adopted cereal crop. Compared to other crops it is less demanding with regard to environmental conditions and is economically viable with lower input and easier agronomic management. Currently barley is grown on 48 million hectares in moderate, continental, and subtropical climates. It is used for animal feeding, for the production of beer and spirits, and directly in human diet. Barley germination have been investigated extensively owing to its importance in barley agriculture and brewing industry. Recently, barley has gained popularity due to the functional properties of its bioactive compounds in barley-based different healthy food products. Worldwide, the greatest use of barley is for malting purposes, most specifically for brewing industry, in which barley is the primary raw material. Its chemical composition, brewing, and technological indices are highly determinative for the beer quality and the economic efficiency of the brewing process. During malting, seeds undergoes an incomplete natural germination process that involves a series of biochemical and biophysical mechanisms, relatively fast hydration and germination are necessary traits of barley for good malting quality. A possibility to shorten the malting process is to influence the germination This works aims to study effects of electro technologies on the germination of barley seeds. We use three different approaches to observe the germination of barley grains, namely: • To evaluate heat production rate, during 48 hours of germination, through analytical techniques based on calorimetric measurements, • Using of gravimetric method to study the dynamics of water absorption by the seeds during 48 hours of germination. • To develop a method using with infrared thermal camera to follow the germination of individual seeds. Novel electro technologies such as pulsed electric field (PEF) and moderated electric field (MEF) could have an important application in barley agriculture industry. Permeabilization of the cell membrane caused by electric fields, represents a stress for cell metabolism and was tested as a method, which might affect speed of barley germination. The final results of the electric field exposure were evaluated based on the root length and the measured thermal energy. In this study it was shown that upon application of electric fields at different stages of germination the lengths of the roots were decreased and thermal energy of the germinating barley was impaired after the electro treatments under studied conditions.

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