Abstract
Post-harvest storage loss in sugar beets due to diseases and root respiration can lead to over 55% loss of sucrose. However, the application of an ecofriendly and convenient physical treatment, cold plasma (CP), can significantly improve post-harvest storage quality of sugar beet roots during prolong (>5-months) indoor storage. Using 4200 V plasma was created in a 48 cubic ft metal bin and sugar beet roots of two commercial cultivars were exposed for 15, 25, and 35 min at 3-week postharvest. Lower doses of CP reduced disease symptoms by 30-54% and higher dose (35 min) increased (16-25%) biomass retention. Sucrose retention increased (up to 18%) with CP, depending upon dose and genotype. Root microbiome analysis using 16S (bacteria) and ITS (fungi) sequencing, showed reduction of bacterial phyla such as Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, whereas Cyanobacteria increased with CP treatments. Altered beta diversity and significant reduction of potentially pathogenic (e.g. Proteobacteria) and biofilm producing (e.g. Actinobacteria) bacteria were observed in the CP treated samples. Cold plasma reduced fungal phylum, Basidiomycota, and the genera, Athelia sp. Overall, the results presented here demonstrate the potential of ecofriendly CP technology to improve post-harvest storage quality of sugar beets at commercial level in the future.