Managing the Microbiome on the Surface of Tomato Fruit by Treatment of Tomato Plants with Non-Thermal Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma During Cultivation

The treatment of plants with non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma impacts several aspects of plant life. However, the effects of long-term plasma irradiation on crop cultivation are not enough investigated. The purpose of the current study is to address this subject. The growth of tomato plants, the preservation status of harvested tomato fruits, and the microbial community on the surface of harvested tomato fruits were compared between 12 long-term plasma-irradiated plants and 12 air-irradiated plants with statistical analyses. The growth parameters (plant height, number of leaves and fruit bunches, SPAD value, and plant dry weight) of the plants that were periodically irradiated with plasma from the three-leaf stage to the green-enlarged-fruit stage, were the same as those of the air-irradiated controls. However, the preservation status of the tomato fruits harvested from the plasma-irradiated plants was improved in comparison with that of the fruits from the air-irradiated controls. Analysis of the microbiome on the surface of the fruit indicated that long-term plasma irradiation during cultivation promoted an increased bacterial diversity on the fruit surface. Thus, the effect of plasma irradiation on the diversification of microbial population dynamics on tomato fruit may be associated with an improved preservation status of harvested tomato fruits.