Electroshocking plants brings chemical rewards

Amazing how many scientists don’t do prior art research. The use of electricity with plants for growth enhancement and controlling vermin/insects has been going on since at least the early 1900s.

“The roots of garden pea plants were exposed to low-level electric current and subsequently produced 13 times more pisatin, an antifungal chemical, than plants that were not exposed to electricity. To shock the plants, Cuello applied a 30 to 100 milliamp current to the growth-medium of plants grown hydroponically, or, in the case of barrel medic, to the solution surrounding the cell cultures. Other compounds that have been tested to stress plant cells include heavy metals, chemicals such as methyl jasmonate and sodium acetate, and the cell walls of microorganisms. But these methods have drawbacks: introduced metals and chemical compounds can taint desired plant chemicals and microbe preparation and introduction can be costly and time consuming. “I thought about electricity because you can optimise the magnitude and exposure time of the current,” says Cuello, adding that the current he and colleagues used wouldn’t be enough to electrocute a human and doesn’t burn the plant’s cells. “You just introduce two electrodes and you can turn it on and off, it’s that convenient,” he says.” - Source