# Applications of Plasma Produced with Electrical Discharges in Gases for Agriculture and Biomedicine
## 3 Review of Plasma Applications in Agriculture and Medicine  
Since the beginning of 21 st century, many reviews, articles, and conference papers were published on the biomedical and agricultural applications of plasma generated by reactors with electrical discharges in the air, in noble gases and their mixtures. Different designs of such plasma reactors are presented in Table 2[5; 6; 22; 23; 26; 28; 29; 30; 31; 32; 33; 36; 59; 66; 72; 75; 77; 79; 83; 85; 88; 89; 90; 91].  
These studies show that viricidal, fungicidal, and bactericidal properties of non-thermal plasma make it effective in processes of sterilisation and disinfection, as well as in the treatment of many diseases, including:  
* Sterilisation of human and animal tissues, blood, and surface wounds [33; 34; 35; 36; 37].
* Assisting skin cancer therapy [92; 93; 94; 95].
* Treatment of viral, bacterial, and fungal infections due to antimicrobial plasma activity [31; 88; 96].
* Odontology--caries therapy [97; 98].
* Coating of implants, contact optical lens, and dentures with biocompatible films [99; 100; 101].
* Live tissue engineering--fabrication of bioactive agents and medicines [29; 30; 35; 90].
* Immodibisation of biological molecules, cell surface modification to control their behaviour, and improvement of blood adhesion.
* Sterilisation of medical and surgical instruments, especially those made of materials and fabrics not resistant to high temperature.
* Medical diagnostics--fabrication of biosensors based on polymers, and thin amorphous films for medical and biochemical analysis.  
In the agricultural and food industry, both thermal and non-thermal plasma are used for:  
* Water and wastewater purification [16; 21; 82; 67; 83].
* Utilisation and management of industrial waste [73; 74; 102; 103; 104; 105; 106].
* Soil treatment and pest control [12; 12; 12; 12; 12; 12; 12; 12; 12; 12; 12; 13; 80; 81; 82; 83].
* Odour removal from air in agricultural production processes and waste utilisation [107].
* Food pasteurisation, disinfection, and preservation--O\({}_{3}\) is used in common refrigerators as a deodorising and antimicrobial agent [25; 26; 108].
* Food storage and package sterilisation [22; 23; 24; 25; 109].
* Conditioning and microbiological decontamination of biomaterials, including food [24].
* Enhancement of seed germination, plant growth, and fruit formation processes [110; 111; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 120].
* Ozone-aided corn-steeping processes to replace current SO\({}_{2}\) application [121].  
There are no general requirements for all possible plasma components and their safe use in agricultural and biomedical processes, especially in therapy. The current safety restrictions for all non-thermal plasma sources refer to general regulations for the operation of electrical devices, those generating ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and active compounds, and the limits of electric currents safe for humans. Research is still being carried out on the design of non-thermal plasma sources with good bactericidal and fungicidal properties that would not be harmful to humans and animals, both farmed and wild, which may live in the vicinity of the plasma-treated crops.  
Over the last three years, with the worldwide SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, which started in 2019, and with which we are still struggling today, research has intensified on the influence of plasma and highly ozonated water on various types of viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and their mutations [122; 123].