# Biological Effects of High-Voltage Electric Field Treatment of Naked Oat Seeds
## 4 Discussion
Previous FTIR studies show that the wave number at 3281 cm\({}^{-1}\) was the stretching vibrations of O-H and N-H of polysaccharides, sugar alcohols, glycosides, amino acids and proteins; the wave number at 2923 cm\({}^{-1}\) was the asymmetric stretching vibrations of the -CH\({}_{3}\) of lipids and proteins; the wave number at 2853 cm\({}^{-1}\) was the symmetrical telescopic vibration of -CH\({}_{2}\) from membrane lipid; the wave number at 1709 cm\({}^{-1}\) was the stretching vibrations of C=O, indicative of cutin and wax; the wave numbers at 1646 cm\({}^{-1}\) and 1542 cm\({}^{-1}\) were indicative of protein amide I band and II band, respectively, the amide I band was formed by the stretching vibration coupling of C=O and the C-N group, the amide II band was formed by the stretching vibration coupling of N-H and C-N groups; the wave number near 1412 cm\({}^{-1}\) was the bending vibration of -CH\({}_{2}\), mainly from proteins and nucleic acid; the wave number near 1243 cm\({}^{-1}\) was the asymmetric stretching vibration of the phosphodiester group, which mainly from the phosphodiester skeleton vibration of nucleic acid and phospholipid in the biofilm; the wave number near 1035 cm\({}^{-1}\) was the symmetrical telescopic vibration mainly from the C-O-C vibration of phospholipids and sugars in the biofilm [24; 25]. The surface of naked oat seeds is hydrophobic, the main components of the seed coat surface are cellulose and wax. Cellulose is hydrophilic and insoluble in water, while wax is hydrophobic. As shown in Figures 3 and 5, a large number of untreated naked oat seeds float on the surface of the water. After treatment by electric field, the number of floating seeds was greatly reduced, the hydrophilicity of naked oat seeds was increased and the hydrophilicity of the covered group increased more obviously, indicating that the non-uniform electric field impacts the hydrophilic seeds more than the ion wind. As shown in Figure 9, the wave numbers at 3281 cm\({}^{-1}\), 1646 cm\({}^{-1}\), 1542 cm\({}^{-1}\), 1412 cm\({}^{-1}\), and 1035 cm\({}^{-1}\) were enhanced, indicating that the content of hydrophilic substances such as polysaccharides, sugar alcohols, cellulose and hemicellulose increased, these substances are all hydrophilic, especially hemicellulose and can cause the cell wall to swell, impart fiber elasticity and thus improve hydrophilicity. After the treatment of HVEF, the wave number at 1709 cm\({}^{-1}\) was weakened, which is similar to the results of [PERSON] and [PERSON] et al. [23; 26], indicating that the wax and oil content decreased, that is, the content of hydrophobic substances decreased, the change of these absorption peaks result in changes in the hydrophilicity of naked oat seeds. The new absorption peak formed near 1740 cm\({}^{-1}\) of hemicellulose [23], which is conducive to the improvement of seed water absorption. In the results of the water absorption measurement in Figure 2, only the water absorption rate of the 8 kV uncovered group decreased slightly compared with the control, while the absorption peak of this group at 1740 cm\({}^{-1}\) was not obvious. The water absorption rate of the 8 kV occlusion group did not change significantly compared with the control, this group did not form an absorption peak at 1740 cm\({}^{-1}\), while the other treatment groups formed a new absorption peak at 1740 cm\({}^{-1}\). The water absorption rate increased by different degrees compared with the control group, so whether an absorption peak is formed at 1740 cm\({}^{-1}\) is closely related to the hydrophilicity of the seed, and whether it can be used as a judgment mark for the water absorption rate and hydrophilicity of the naked oat seed needs further research. Moreover, after the treatment of HVEF, the peak value of the FTIR of the uncovered group was more severe than that of the covered group, indicating that the ion wind etches the seed coat more seriously when it is not covered.