Approximate entropy: a promising tool to understand the hidden electrical activity of fruit

Abstract

Fruits, like other parts of the plant, appear to have a rich electrical activity that may contain information. Here, we present data showing differences in the electrome complexity of tomato fruits through ripening and discuss possible physiological processes involved. The complexity of the signals, measured through approximate entropy, varied along the fruit ripening process. When analyzing the fruits individually, a decrease in entropy values was observed when they entered the breaker stage, followed by a tendency to increase again when they entered the light red stage. Consequently, the data obtained showed a decrease in signal complexity in the breaker stage, probably due to some physiological process that ends up predominating to the detriment of others. This result may be linked to processes involved in ripening, such as climacteric. Electrophysiological studies in the reproductive stage of the plant are still scarce, and research in this direction is of paramount importance to understand whether the electrical signals observed can transmit information from reproductive structures to other modules of plants. This work opens the possibility of studying the relationship between the electrical activity and fruit ripening through the analysis of approximate entropy. More studies are necessary to understand whether there is a correlation or a cause-response relationship in the phenomena involved. There is a myriad of possibilities for the applicability of this knowledge to different areas, from understanding the cognitive processes of plants to achieving more accurate and sustainable agriculture.

Toward Enhanced Plant Immunity: Unveiling the Role of Brassinosteroids in Abiotic and Biotic Stress Response

“…Research by Ladeynova et al [47] sheds light on intricate interactions between electrical signals and plant hormones, elucidating systemic responses. Further studies are crucial to deepen our understanding of these interactions, particularly in managing environmental stress [47,80,86]. Action potentials (AP) and other electrical activity patterns influence physiological processes like photosynthesis and plant reactions to environmental stimuli [78].…”

“…Plant electrical activity is vital for understanding adaptive strategies with implications for agriculture and environmental conservation. Despite progress, unanswered questions persist, necessitating ongoing research [47,86,87].…”

“…Acceleration of Maturation and Fruiting Processes: BR can accelerate fruit maturation, benefiting agricultural and horticultural production and fruit availability in the market [60,86].…”

Temporal Analysis of Infectious Diseases: A Case Study on COVID-19

“…It operates on the principle of conditional probability to ascertain the propensity for the emergence of new information within time series data. This effectively encapsulates the likelihood of developing novel subseries within the overall time series data set [25]. The procedural steps to calculate approximate entropy are as follows:…”