The Optical Absorption Coefficient of Bean Seeds Investigated Using Photoacoustic Spectroscopy

A knowledge about seed optical parameters is of great relevance in seed technology practice. Such parameters provide information about its absorption and reflectance, which could be useful for biostimulation processes, by light sources, in early stages of seed germination. In the present research photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) and the Rosencwaig and Gersho model were used to determine the optical absorption coefficient (β) of five varieties of bean seeds (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), of different productive cycles; the seeds were biostimulated by laser treatment to evaluate the effects of biostimulation pre-sowing. It was found that the bean varieties V1, V2, V4, and V5 were optically opaque in the visible spectrum; in the case of the V3 variety, this sample was optically transparent from 680 nm. The varieties of the studied bean seeds showed significant statistical differences in sizes and also in their optical absorption spectra. The biostimulation effects showed that the seed samples with a higher optical penetration length had a positive biostimulation, in the percentage of germination, obtaining an enhancement of 47 % compared to the control sample. The utility of PAS for the optical characterization of seeds has been demonstrated in this study of the laser biostimulation process of this kind of samples.