Effect of Microwaves Treated Brassica Seeds on IR Irradiated Spectrum

Microwaves are non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation. With the growth of technology and increase in demand of cellular services day by day; the presence of microwaves in environment is also increasing. Mostly these services are operated at 945 MHz. The wavelength of microwaves spans from one meter to one millimeter, covering the spectrum from 300 MHz to 300 GHz. These frequencies may affect the quality of the microwaves treated plant seeds and may reduce their fertility. This paper presents the results of some investigations carried out using microwaves treated Brassica seeds on IR (Infra-Red) irradiation. The spectrum of both microwaves treated and untreated seeds was studied under visible and IR radiation. It was observed that increasing the duration or power of the microwaves significantly affected the irradiated spectrum. Increasing the microwaves exposure decreases the IR absorption coefficient of the seeds. Further, microwaves reduce the fluid content of the seeds, which may affect the fertility of the seeds. The results may be useful for the development of an automatic quality assessment system for seeds.