The effects on non-thermal plasma on Botrytis Cinerea

The fungus Botrytis Cinerea is one of the leading causes for loss in agriculture especially in relation to strawberries. Current treatments include fungicides which can potentially lead to negative effects on the soil as well health issues to both humans and the environment. Non-thermal plasma has been seen as an alternative method which allows for a non-invasive and not harmful treatment through its production of reactive species like reactive oxygen and nitrogen species(RONS). We investigated the effects of non-thermal plasma on the growth of Botrytis Cinerea present in strawberries and grown on potato dextrose agar medium. We varied treatment time as well as gas flow rate in efforts to see which treatments proved to be most effective. The data was taken through image processing and area calculations. We will be presenting the effectiveness of the plasma through fungal inhibition in the different media as well as the methodology to date.