An Alternative, Low Cost Means of Heating Water Used in Vegetable Seed Sanitation

Abstract

Some bacterial plant pathogens can infect crops through seeds, causing a major problem for vegetables. Bacterial diseases spread quickly, are not easily managed, and can vary in severity. Currently, there are not many tools to manage bacterial diseases other than prevention. Therefore, it is important to sanitize seeds prior to planting to reduce the risk of seedborne bacterial diseases. The best way to do this is by applying a hot water treatment to the seeds to kill bacteria before planting. However, water baths are prohibitively expensive for many vegetable growers. There is a need to find a more cost-effective way to conduct these treatments. The Sous Vide Precision Cooker could be a less expensive option for growers than water baths. The purpose of this research was to determine if this immersion heater was as effective as a commercial water bath in preventing seed borne bacterial diseases. Various vegetable seeds (tomato, pepper, cucumber, and cabbage) were sanitized with water heated using the precision cooker versus a commercial water bath. Both non-inoculated seeds and seeds inoculated with Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis, Xanthomonas euvesicatoria, Pseudomonas syringae pv. lachrymans, or Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris were tested. Seeds were evaluated after treatment for viability and germination rate. We hypothesized that water heated in the Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker was as effective in preventing seed borne bacterial diseases as a water heated in a commercial hot water bath. There were no significant differences in viability or germination rate of non-inoculated seeds treated with water heated by either method. There was some statistical significance in viability with the inoculated pepper and cabbage seeds. This study was beneficial because it provides growers an alternative, low cost method to sanitize seeds and to better manage the spread of seedborne bacterial diseases in their crops.