Effects of moderate static magnetic field presowing treatment on seedling growth and oxidative status in two Raphanus sativus L. varieties

Improvement of seed performance by static magnetic field (SMF) constitutes a safe ecological way to substitute chemicals use. In laboratory conditions, we studied the effects of presowing seeds of two varieties of Raphanus sativus (Red: R.R, Red and White: R+W) by moderate SMF on seedlings’ growth and oxidative status and this by using different intensities (100 and 200 mT) and exposure times (2 and 3 h). For radish, the SMF pretreatment of 100 mT/3 h induced significant enhancement of 8 day-old seedling biomass production and this by about 26 and 29% for respectively the RR and the R+W varieties. However, R.R seems to be more sensitive to SMF than R+W based on biomass production. Moreover, for the beneficial pretreatment of 100 mT/3 h, SMF-induced effects were also observed when white light was substituted by blue one using light filters. Besides, catalase (CAT) activity was significantly stimulated in radish plantlets (about 36% in cotyledons). Nevertheless, assimilatory pigments decreased (p<0.05) significantly (by about an average of 25%) but malondialdehyde (MDA) content remained unvaried. To conclude, SMF-presowing -at the treatment of 100 mT/3 h- allowed, in our experimental conditions, the improvement of R. sativus initial growth while keeping a good oxidative status. Keywords : Performance, presowing, radish, static magnetic field African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(3), pp. 275-283