Exposure of Plants to Static Electromagnetic Fields: The Early Growth of Basil and Waxy Corn

Journal article, 2016

The effects of a static low-intensity electromagnetic field (EMF) on higher plants were investigated. Thai basil (Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflora) and waxy corn (Zea mays var. ceratina) were chosen as samples for the experiments. There were 2 methods of electromagnetic exposure, indirect exposure (applying magnetically treated water to plants) and direct exposure (plants are grown under the electromagnetic field). For the indirect exposure experiment, magnetically treated water (0.34-4.54 mT, 24 h) was applied to Thai basil seeds daily for 1 week and the experiment was repeated once. No significant difference in the heights was found between the control groups and the treated groups whether deionized or tap water was used. For the direct exposure experiment (0.28-3.83 mT), waxy corn seeds were grown between a pair of electromagnets. Two controls were grown in the absence of an extra magnetic field; 1 control group (no electromagnets (EM)) was grown at room temperature while the other control group (EM-0) was grown between a pair of electromagnets with a similar temperature to the other magnetically treated groups. The experiment was completed in 4 days and was repeated once. The results indicated that there is no height difference between the control (EM-0) and the groups grown between electromagnets; however, the controls (no EM), which were grown at room temperature were shorter compared to those grown between electromagnets. Our results suggest that the level of the applied magnetic field has no effect on the heights of the plants in this study.