Scarification of Altaic Flax Seeds With High-Power UV Radiation Generated by Plasma of Nanosecond Electric Discharges

This paper describes an investigation of effect of high-power UV-radiation plasma, generated by electric discharges, on germination rate of Altaic flax seeds (Linum altaicum). It was found that UV-radiation scarifies flax seeds by means of cracks formation in the seeds' coat. The cracks shorten moisture penetration time to a seed bud thus twice increasing the germination rate. It is found that the germination rate function has the three-stage character; the velocity-growth function has the view of three pulses, which separates the seeds into three subgroups. Division of the group into subgroups is stipulated by the probabilistic nature of the cracks formation. The number of subgroups is equal to the number of layers +1. We calculated average times of natural moisture penetration through the flax seed coat layers: T
_s
= 11.8 h through the spermoderm and T
_e
= 17.7 h through the endosperm. It is possible that scarification of the flax seed coats can shorten the germination time for these times. We also noted that some seeds could die due to the effect of high-power UV radiation. So, it is necessary to find more sparing regimes of the seeds UV irradiation.