In order to interpret the biological significance of ultra-weak photon emission during germination of plant seed,respiratory inhibitors NaN3 was used to treat germinating corn seed,spontaneous photon emission and delayed photon emission during germination of corn were tracked to measure and analyze,and the change of fresh quality of germinating corn was studied.The results showed that NaN3 inhibited the increase in spontaneous photon emission and fresh quality of germinating corns,caused a significant reduction in initial photon number and integral strength of delayed photon emission,the coherence time of delayed photon emission was also reduced.Mechanism analysis showed that the reduction of free radical reactions from respiratory electron transport chain caused by NaN3 was the reason about decrease of spontaneous photon emission in germinating corn,spontaneous photon emission intensity in germinating corn could be used as a signal to express the germination state of corn,the kinetic parameters of delayed photon emission could represent the strength of the respiratory metabolism during germination of corn,and coherence time could be used to measure the order of cell organization.Such,sensitive and non-destructive testing about the change of cell metabolism and functional status during seed germination could be realized through the collection and analysis of the ultra-weak photon emission in germinating seed.