Response of barley seedlings to microwaves at 2.45 GHz.

Abstract

Abstract\n \nThe objective of the present study was to investigate the changes induced upon germination and growth rate, expressed by vigor index of barley seeds exposed to microwave (MW) treatment. As a microwave source was used a magnetron MWG20H, which emits radiation with a frequency of 2.45 GHz. In the experiment, barley seeds were exposed for 0s, 10s and 20s. The germination energy (GE) and germination (G), cotyledon length (CL), leaves length (LL) and roots length (RL) in cm were determined on the 3th, 7th and 14th day after irradiation in order to estimate the influence of microwave treatment on them. The hypothesis was that seeds exposed to MW will behave differently than those unexposed. It was observed that the best results in terms of GE, G and vigor index (SVI) were obtained in barley seeds for the treatment with output microwaves power of 400W for 20s.