Cold plasma technology as a pre-treatment for seed priming enhances germination and reduces salinity stress in Prosopis Koelziana

The Prosopis koelziana genus, part of the Fabaceae family, plays a crucial role in the ecology and economy of arid regions. It is commonly used for restoring deserts, forests, and degraded soils that have low fertility and high salt concentrations. However, recent research has shown that the seedlings of P. koelziana are highly susceptible to salinity stress, despite their overall high tolerance. This study aimed to explore the use of cold plasma technology as a seed pretreatment to enhance germination rates and seedling tolerance to salt stress. In the study, the germination rates of Prosopis koelziana seeds improved significantly: from 44% to 21% at 100 mM and 200 mM salinity, respectively, to 100% and 68% after an 8-minute plasma treatment. This improvement is attributed to various physical and biochemical changes occurring within the seeds, such as increased permeability to water and gases. Furthermore, after the 8-minute plasma treatment, membrane lipid peroxidation-an indicator of oxidative stress-was reduced by 35% and 50% in plants subjected to 100 mM and 200 mM salt stress, respectively. Under both moderate and severe salt stress, the activities of the enzymes catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) significantly increased in plasma-treated plants compared to those not treated with cold plasma. In contrast, the activity of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) decreased. These findings suggest that cold plasma priming is a promising method for combating salinity stress and highlight its potential in enhancing the survival and conservation of Prosopis koelziana in arid ecosystems.