Influence of low electromagnetic field on photosynthetic apparatus and the amount of soluble sugar content in Lepidium sativum L.

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (60 Hz) on photosynthesis apparatus and the amount of soluble sugar in Lepidium sativum L. Seeds were divided to dry and wet groups. In terms of wet group, seeds were soaked in water for 7 and 14 h. Dry and wet seeds were placed in the middle of a horizontally fixed coil and were exposed to extremely low frequency electromagnetic of a magnitude of 3.8 mT, for 30 and 60 minutes. Results demonstrated that the amount of chlorophyll a and b did not show the significant increase and the amount of chlorophyll ratio did not have any significant decrease. In addition, carotenoid, flavonoid content and membrane lipid peroxidation increased significantly and the amount of soluble sugar content declined significantly. Results confirms that the influence of electromagnetic field on carotenoid and flavonoids as well as membrane lipids caused the decrease of photosynthesis efficacy, and consequently caused the decline of the amount of soluble sugar.