Laser light on the mycoflora content in maize seeds

Abstract

Laser light has many applications in agriculture, but there is still much work to provide scientific evidence of its potential use as an alternative for the control of diseases originating in the seed, especially for fungi that are internal. In this study, we investigated the effects of low intensity laser irradiation on the mycoflora content in maize seeds. Five irradiation times (30, 60, 180, 300 and 600 s) and two intensity levels (I₁ = 16.3 e and I₂ = 4.6 mW/cm²) were applied by using a diode laser (λ= 655 nm and power of 27.4 mW). Consequently, the laser irradiation significantly diminished the quantity of seeds infected with Fusarium spp. fungi. The combination of I₁ and I₂, at 5 min of irradiation time, diminished (p < 0.05) the quantity of infected seeds with Fusarium spp. up to 61.11% when compared with the control seed (no irradiation). From these results, we concluded that low intensity laser irradiation could be an alternative method to control seed transmitted diseases in maize seed.

Key words: Zea mays L., diode laser, low intensity laser, fungi, Fusarium.