Influence of a Permanent Magnetic Field on the Composition and Content of Sugars in Leaves and Storage Roots of Radish Plants of Major Types of Magnetic Orientation

Abstract

The influence of a weak permanent magnetic field (PMF) with a strength of 400 A/m on the composition and content of sugars was investigated in radish (Raphanus sativus L.) leaves and storage roots of the two major types of magnetic orientation (TMO): North–South (NS TMO) and West–East (WE TMO). Plants were grown in spring and autumn in a greenhouse of the Institute of Plant Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences. The weak PMF changed the total sugar content in the leaves and storage roots of radish depending on the belonging of the radish plants to the NS or WE type of magnetic orientation, the growing season, and age of plants and the plant organ. The PMF was an environmentally significant factor, since radish plants of different types of magnetic orientation (NS and WE) had a different reaction to the effect of the field related to the peculiarities of their physiological status.