Ozonized Water in the Preconditioning of Corn Seeds: Physiological Quality and Field Performance

ABSTRACT

Corn is a cereal of great economic and social importance worldwide. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the effects on the physiological quality and the performance in the field of corn seeds with different quality standards before and after hydropriming with ozone. To evaluate the effects on the physiological quality, two batches (one with high physiological quality and the other with low physiological quality) of corn seeds were used. Seeds from both batches were immersed in distilled water and bubbled with atmospheric air (control - 0 mg L^-1) or ozone. Three inlet concentrations of ozone (0, 10, and 20 mg L⁻¹) and five periods of preconditioning (0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min) were used. To evaluate the physiological quality of the seeds, different tests were carried out both in the laboratory and in the field. The use of the corn seed hydropriming with atmospheric air or ozone favored the physiological quality of the corn seeds when considering laboratory and field variables. There was an increase of emergence in the field of seeds not submitted to aging (high physiological quality) only due to the preconditioning period. The use of ozone was positive in lowering the loss of cellular solutes in seeds submitted to aging. Ozonation also caused significant increases in the plant heights and in the first ear insertion height. The binomial 20 mg L⁻¹/60 min is the most suitable for preconditioning corn seeds in ozonated water.

KEYWORDS:

• ozonation
• physiological quality of seeds
• seeds priming
• vigor
• Zea mays L

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a scholarship to Natasha Ohanny da Costa Monteiro from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel, Brazil (Finance Code 001) and for financial support from the Dean of Research and Innovation of the University of Brasilia (Nº 23106.137399/2019-19).