b'PARTNER CONTENTLightning disinfects seeds, naturally!BY: MARCEL BRUINSQ uiz question: what is the name of the fourth state of matter after solid, liquid, and gas? Its plasma! And did you know that it makes up 99 per cent of our universe? What if we told you that there is now a way to use plasma to treat and disin-fect your seeds!But first lets get back to what plasma actually is. Basically, it is superheated matter, and it is so hot that the electrons are ripped away from the atoms, resulting in an ionized gas. We can witness plasma as it glows in the form of stars or nebulas, and even the auroras that sometimes ripple above the north and south poles. Lightning is one of natures ways of making plasma, but plasma is also present in the neon signs along our city streets. And so is our sun, the star thatBy only using ambient air, water, and (green) electricity, seeds and crops can be cleaned from pathogens.makes life on earth possible.CLEANING SEEDS BY LIGHTNING VitalFluid has recently teamed up withapplication of PAW with high reproducibil-The company VitalFluid has developed a pro- PETKUS to boost the development of nature- ity at desired dosages (Selecta CF04 bio cess by which plasma-activated water (PAW)based seed treatment solutions for flowertreater). Another option is to combine PAW is generated by electrical discharge. Thisand vegetable seeds. The technologieswith the MultiCoater CM HySeed bio unit that mimics the process in nature, where PAW, indeveloped by both companies complementdisinfects seeds with active steam, he adds.the form of rain is generated during lightning.each other very well, allowing for moreFor effective seed treatment technology, And this type of water contains various reac- effective seed treatments. VitalFluid hasit is crucial that the PAW can be applied to tive molecules such as nitrogen oxide anddeveloped a process to generate Plasmathe seeds in a reproducible manner and in hydrogen peroxide which have the potentialActivate Water (PAW). And PETKUS appliesthe desired dosage. For this purpose, PETKUS to inactivate microorganisms. this technology to make their seed disinfec- Selecta designed a fully automated set-up, Testing has shown that PAW can betion process HySeed Bio even more effective. the Selecta CF04 bio treater. The CF04 bio used for seed sanitation, as it removes fungi,enables to dose each batch of seeds very bacteria and viruses. VitalFluids CEO, PaulBEST OF BOTH WORLDS precisely and ensures a uniform treatment of Leenders is very excited about all the pos- By combining the technologies of VitalFluidthe seed that is reproducible for all batches sibilities of Plasma Activated Water: It is aand PETKUS, a complete seed treatmentof a seed lot. The entire treatment process in sustainable solution for many issues in agri- package can be offered, says Marcelthe CF04 bio treater is fully automated and culture without using chemicals. By only usingWolbrink, managing director of PETKUSis carried out with developed recipes. The ambient air, water, and (green) electricity, itSelecta. This can be achieved in differentinformation for each batch is stored and the can clean seeds and crops from pathogensways; for example, by applying PAW ontotreatment parameters can be traced back.and supply crops the nutrient nitrogen.seeds in a batch process, which enablesPROMISING RESULTSOngoing research with PAW to remove seed-borne diseases, carried out at VitalFluid, in cooperation with Ineke Wijkamp from Seed2Plant, showed a significant reduction of fungal and bacterial contaminants. In specific cases 100 per cent removal of path-ogens was achieved after the sanitation pro-cess with PAW, without significant negative effect on germination. In some cases of san-itation of flower seeds with a high contami-nation of general fungi, the germination was improved up to 130 per cent, as compared to the untreated control; basically, due to the removal of excess of fungal spores from the seed surface, says Wijkamp.For more information, watch the seed PETKUS HySeed Bio disinfects seeds naturally with Active Steam treatment and plasma activated water. treatment demo: https://youtu.be/p5CtYd0qJh0 EUROPEAN-SEED.COMIEUROPEAN SEED I 39'