Effect of microwave fields on the germination period and shoot growth rate of some seeds

Electromagnetic fields in the microwave frequency have been used to sort good seeds from the bad ones and the technique makes use of the absorptive component of the dielectric constant of the water molecules material in this frequency region. On the other hand, microwaves are also used for accelerating the culture growth of a bacterial medium. One theory holds that the beneficial effects of microwave derive principally from the local temperature enhancement. The exact bio-chemical mechanism by which microwaves affect the functioning of a living organisms are not very well understood and the mechanism may vary depending upon the amplitude of the field and its frequency and, in the general case, on the duty cycle. We have started our research in this field by focussing on small organisms that can be easily submitted to the well characterised microwave fields. Another motivating factor is if the effect is beneficial it can be easily implemented. In this communication we describe a set-up and methodology that we have used to study the effect of microwave fields in the GHz region, more precisely 2.45 GHz fields; this band of frequencies is used in household microwave appliances.