Abstract
Seed longevity and quality are crucial for agricultural sustainability, as aging negatively affects germination and seedling vigor. Prolonged storage and unfavorable environmental conditions promote oxidative stress, leading to lipid peroxidation, enzyme inactivation, and reduced antioxidant capacity. This study explored ultrasound technology as a novel, eco-friendly approach to counteract these aging-induced effects in pea ( Pisum sativum ) and turnip ( Brassica rapa L.) seeds. Seeds underwent artificial aging followed by ultrasound treatment (19.8 kHz, 200 W, 7.5 min), a process proposed to enhance seed coat permeability, water uptake and gas exchange through cavitation-induced physical effects, thereby facilitating metabolic reactivation, potentially involving modulation of hormone-regulated germination pathways. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed distinct clustering of aged and ultrasound-treated seeds, indicating enhanced germination performance, antioxidant activity, and enzymatic defenses. Post-ultrasound treatment, germination rates increased significantly, by 340% in pea and 38% in turnip, compared to aged controls. Additionally, both species exhibited a 69% improvement in germination value, while turnip seeds showed faster germination. At the biochemical level, ultrasound increased chlorophyll content (57% in pea and full restoration in turnip) and reduced the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, reflecting reduced oxidative damage. Moreover, antioxidant enzyme activities, including superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), alongside total antioxidant capacity (DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays), were generally enhanced after ultrasound treatment and, in some cases, restored to levels comparable to non-aged seeds. These findings suggested that ultrasound treatment alleviates the seed aging effects by improving membrane integrity and redox homeostasis, thereby mitigating age-related physiological and biochemical deterioration. Consequently, ultrasound treatment emerges as a promising priming strategy for enhancing seed vigor, germination uniformity, and early seedling establishment under aging stress conditions. • Ultrasound improves germination in aged pea and turnip seeds by up to 340% and 38%. • Treatment reduces oxidative damage and MDA levels in aged seeds and seedlings. • Ultrasound treatment restores antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD, CAT) to levels observed in non-aged seeds. • Ultrasound improves chlorophyll and carotenoids in seedlings from aged seeds. • A scalable, eco-friendly method for reviving seed vigor and crop establishment.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
Ultrasound treatment increased germination rate in aged pea seeds by 340% relative to aged controls.
- Taxon
- pea
Lathyrus oleraceuse1 - Organ / stage
- seedse1
- Treatment
- ultrasound treatmente2
- Outcome
- germination ratese2
- Direction
- increasede2
- Value
- 340%e2
- Comparator
- aged controlse2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“counteract these aging-induced effects in pea ( Pisum sativum ) and turnip ( Brassica rapa L.) seeds”
e2“Post-ultrasound treatment, germination rates increased significantly, by 340% in pea and 38% in turnip, compared to aged controls”
Claim · model-written summary
Ultrasound treatment increased germination rate in aged turnip seeds by 38% relative to aged controls.
- Taxon
- turnip
.jpg?width=60)
Brassica rapa subsp. rapae1 - Organ / stage
- seedse1
- Treatment
- ultrasound treatmente2
- Outcome
- germination ratese2
- Direction
- increasede2
- Value
- 38%e2
- Comparator
- aged controlse2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e1“counteract these aging-induced effects in pea ( Pisum sativum ) and turnip ( Brassica rapa L.) seeds”
e2“Post-ultrasound treatment, germination rates increased significantly, by 340% in pea and 38% in turnip, compared to aged controls”
Claim · model-written summary
Pea seeds showed a 69% improvement in germination value after ultrasound treatment.
- Taxon
- peaLathyrus oleraceuse1
- Outcome
- germination valuee3
- Value
- 69%e3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“counteract these aging-induced effects in pea ( Pisum sativum ) and turnip ( Brassica rapa L.) seeds”
e3“both species exhibited a 69% improvement in germination value”
Claim · model-written summary
Turnip seeds showed a 69% improvement in germination value after ultrasound treatment.
- Taxon
- turnipBrassica rapa subsp. rapae4
- Outcome
- germination valuee3
- Value
- 69%e3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e3“both species exhibited a 69% improvement in germination value”
e4“while turnip seeds showed faster germination”
Claim · model-written summary
Turnip seeds germinated faster after ultrasound treatment.
- Taxon
- turnipBrassica rapa subsp. rapae4
- Outcome
- germinatione4
- Qualifier
- fastere4
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e4“while turnip seeds showed faster germination”
Claim · model-written summary
Ultrasound increased chlorophyll content in pea by 57%.
- Taxon
- peaLathyrus oleraceuse5
- Treatment
- ultrasounde5
- Outcome
- chlorophyll contente5
- Direction
- increasede5
- Value
- 57%e5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e5“ultrasound increased chlorophyll content (57% in pea and full restoration in turnip)”
Claim · model-written summary
Ultrasound fully restored chlorophyll content in turnip.
- Taxon
- turnipBrassica rapa subsp. rapae5
- Treatment
- ultrasounde5
- Outcome
- chlorophyll contente5
- Direction
- full restoratione5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e5“ultrasound increased chlorophyll content (57% in pea and full restoration in turnip)”
Claim · model-written summary
Ultrasound treatment reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in aged pea and turnip seeds, reflecting reduced oxidative damage.
- Taxon
- pea ( Pisum sativum ) and turnip ( Brassica rapa L.)
Brassica rapaLathyrus oleraceuse1 - Treatment
- ultrasounde5
- Outcome
- malondialdehyde (MDA) levelse6
- Direction
- reducede6
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“counteract these aging-induced effects in pea ( Pisum sativum ) and turnip ( Brassica rapa L.) seeds”
e5“ultrasound increased chlorophyll content (57% in pea and full restoration in turnip)”
e6“reduced the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, reflecting reduced oxidative damage”
Claim · model-written summary
Ultrasound treatment enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities and total antioxidant capacity, and in some cases restored them to levels comparable to non-aged seeds.
- Taxon
- pea ( Pisum sativum ) and turnip ( Brassica rapa L.)Brassica rapaLathyrus oleraceuse1
- Treatment
- ultrasound treatmente7
- Outcome
- antioxidant enzyme activities, including superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), alongside total antioxidant capacity (DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays)e7
- Direction
- enhancede7
- Qualifier
- in some cases, restored to levels comparable to non-aged seedse7
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“counteract these aging-induced effects in pea ( Pisum sativum ) and turnip ( Brassica rapa L.) seeds”
e7“antioxidant enzyme activities, including superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), alongside total antioxidant capacity (DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays), were generally enhanced after ultrasound treatment and, in some cases, restored to levels comparable to non-aged seeds”
Claim · model-written summary
Principal Component Analysis revealed distinct clustering of aged and ultrasound-treated seeds.
- Taxon
- pea ( Pisum sativum ) and turnip ( Brassica rapa L.)Brassica rapaLathyrus oleraceuse1
- Outcome
- distinct clustering of aged and ultrasound-treated seedse7
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“counteract these aging-induced effects in pea ( Pisum sativum ) and turnip ( Brassica rapa L.) seeds”
e7“Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed distinct clustering of aged and ultrasound-treated seeds”
Claim · model-written summary
Ultrasound treatment alleviates seed aging effects by improving membrane integrity and redox homeostasis.
- Taxon
- pea ( Pisum sativum ) and turnip ( Brassica rapa L.)Brassica rapaLathyrus oleraceuse1
- Treatment
- ultrasound treatmente6
- Outcome
- seed aging effectse6
- Qualifier
- improving membrane integrity and redox homeostasise6
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“counteract these aging-induced effects in pea ( Pisum sativum ) and turnip ( Brassica rapa L.) seeds”
e6“ultrasound treatment alleviates the seed aging effects by improving membrane integrity and redox homeostasis”
The same questions in other papers
physical treatment · growth · Lathyrus oleraceus (pea)Positive and negative results
5 papers in the same direction as this paper · 3 in the opposite direction
- positive
- negative
- negative
5 papers more in this group
See all 9 papers →physical treatment · growth · Brassica rapa (field mustard)Results agree
7 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
4 papers more in this group
See all 8 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.