Eco-friendly approach to improve traits of winter wheat by combining cold plasma treatments and carbonization of subtropical biomass waste

Abstract This study aims to improve the quality and quantity of winter wheat by using the potential of combining the use of cold plasma and waste biorefinery products for improving wheat yield. Plasma was applied by a radio frequency (RF) plasma reactor operated with air for 180 s and 50 W. The waste biorefinery products, including pyroligneous acid, biochar, and azolla compost, were used as plant nutrition. The effects of cold plasma treatment and waste biorefinery products were determined by measuring plant photosynthesis, grain yield, and content of chlorophyll, carotenoids, anthocyanin, protein, and starch. The experiment was conducted during the cropping seasons 2016−18 in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The combination of cold plasma and pyroligneous acid increased the grain yield up to 40.0%. The photosynthesis rate was improved up to 39.3%, and total chlorophyll content up to 48.3% in both years. Seed plasma treatment combined with biochar application increased the starch content by 36.8%. Adding azolla compost increased the protein content by 35.4%. Using seed plasma treatment with biochar increased the microbial biomass carbon by 16.0%. The application of plasma and azolla compost increased the microbial biomass nitrogen by 29.0%.