Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of electric current stimuli and high-voltage electric field treatments on brown rice germination. The brown rice stimulated by electrical current stimuli, functional electrical stimuli of a pulse type, and high-voltage electric field treatments were observed (Type I, II and III). Treatment Type I was a method of semi-soaking brown rice with electric current stimuli of 0.13 V/cm, 0.19 V/cm, and 0.25 V/cm into Petri-dishes for 72 hours. Type II was a method of semi-soaking brown rice with functional electrical stimuli of a pulse type(DC 1 V, 1 Hz, 5%, and duty cycles of 5%, 20%, and 35%) into Petri-dishes for 72 hours. Type III was a method of water-soaking with high-voltage electric field treatments for 60 hours. High-voltage electric field treatments at 15 kV/cm were also conducted for 2.5 min, 7.5 min, and 10 min, respectively. The germination rate and the sprout growth of brown rice germinated by electric current stimuli with 0.13 V/cm, 0.19 V/cm, and 0.25 V/cm were increased by about 10-15% compared with those of the control group. The germination rate and the sprout growth of brown rice germinated by functional electrical stimuli of pulse type(DC 1 V, 1 Hz, 5% duty cycle) were increased by about 10∼15% compared to those of the control group. Also, the best effective treatment among high-voltage electric field treatments was the 10 min group at 15 kV/cm. The germination rate and the sprout growth of brown rice germinated by this treatment of 10 min at 15 kV/cm were increased by about 10∼20% compared to those of the control group. The treatments of electric current stimuli and high-voltage electric field accelerated the germination rate and sprout growth of brown rice by about 10∼15% compared to those of the control group.