Non-Thermal Plasma Technologies for Plant Virus Inactivation: Sources, Mechanisms, and Practical Applications.
Park MR, Kim MJ, Cho SY, Jeong RD
Crop Improvement
PubMedThe tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce grown in greenhouses and hydroponic farms near you could soon be protected from devastating viral outbreaks using the same physics behind lightning, replacing chemical treatments that leave residues on your food.
Plant viruses wipe out huge amounts of crops every year, and once a plant is infected there's almost nothing farmers can do. Scientists are now studying a technology called cold plasma — essentially a cloud of electrically charged air made at room temperature — that destroys viruses by chemically wrecking their outer shells and scrambling their genetic material. Early results show it can clean irrigation water and growing surfaces effectively, which could help prevent viral outbreaks in greenhouses and large farms before they start.
Key Findings
Cold plasma generates reactive chemical species (including ozone and nitrogen oxides) that inactivate plant viruses by oxidizing and denaturing capsid proteins and damaging viral genomes, suppressing replication.
Highly stable, hard-to-kill plant viruses lose infectivity when treated with cold plasma or plasma-activated water, making it effective even against robust pathogens in irrigation and hydroponic systems.
Plasma-activated water shows particular promise for sanitizing recirculating hydroponic solutions and contact surfaces, though standardized dosing metrics and large-scale commercial validation are still needed.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A review finds that cold plasma technology — an ionized gas created at room temperature — can effectively kill plant viruses on seeds, surfaces, and in irrigation water without chemical residues, offering a promising new tool for protecting crops from viral diseases.
Abstract Preview
Plant virus diseases reduce crop yield and quality worldwide; moreover, curative options once systemic infection is established remain scarce. Non-thermal plasma (NTP; cold atmospheric plasma) is a...
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