In order to clarify and evaluate the effect of pulsed electric field on drought resistance of maize during germination and its mechanism based on living cells,the －0.1 MPa osmotic potential of PEG-6000 solution was used to form drought stress,the effect of pulsed electric field treatment with field strength of 100 kV/m,width of 80 ms,pulse frequency of 1 Hz on spontaneous luminescence and delayed luminescence from germinating corn seeds under drought stress were studied. The results show that the spontaneous luminescence and delayed luminescence integrated intensity gradually increase during the germination process of corn and decrease cased by the spontaneous luminescence,pulse electric treatment makes delayed luminescence integrated intensity of germinating corn under drought stress increase,the changes of the spontaneous luminescence and delayed luminescence integrated intensity are same as the changes of the germination drought index and the storage material transport rate of germinating corn. These results indicated that the treatment of pulsed electric fields improves drought tolerant of germination corn. The changes of the spontaneous luminescence and delayed luminescence integrated intensity of germinating corn reflecte the effect of pulsed electric field treatment on the drought resistance of germinating corn from cell metabolism and cell damage respectively. The research results reveal the mechanism of pulsed electric field on the drought resistance of germinating crop seeds,and provide a reference for development of agricultural technology based on pulsed electric field.