Improving durum wheat germination: exploring the effects of ultrasound and pulsed electric field

Wheat is an important crop for global food security and the key to its production is germination. The germination is a laborious and long process susceptible to be altered by biotic and abiotic factors therefore innovative technologies can be used to improve seeds’ germination behavior. The objective of this study was to assess the germination of two varieties of durum wheat, Simeto and Chen's, subjected to two physical treatments: ultrasound (US) and pulsed electric field (PEF). The germination parameters studied were germination kinetic, precocity of germination (PG), final germination rate (FGR), germination speed (GS) and germ's length (LG). The seeds were exposed to ultrasound at frequencies of 20, 30 and 40 kHz for 20, 40 and 60 min, as well as to a pulsed electric field of intensity 350 V/cm, 700 V/cm, 2 kV/cm and 4 kV/cm with 10, 50 and 100 pulses (P). The results show that an optimal treatment with ultrasound is obtained at 40 kHz/20 min, giving an earliness of 80% and a final germination rate of 96.66% obtained at 30 kHz/20 min and 40 kHz/40 min for Simeo variety. For PEF, the final germination rate of 86.66% is obtained with treatment at 700 V/cm 50 pulses, while the best germination speed of 0.47 is obtained with 4 kV/cm 10 pulses for the Chen's variety. These results indicate that ultrasonic exposure of durum wheat affects germination precocity and speed, while PEF had a significant effect on germ's length.