Effect of Tissue Infrastructure on Electric Conductance of Vegetable Stems

Abstract

This study measures the electric conductance and examines the microscopic structure of bamboo shoots, sugarcane, lettuce stem, and mustard stem. The electric conductance readings vary from 0.09 S/m to 0.72 S/m across the stem, and from 0.19 S/m to 0.46 S/m along the stem. The electric conductance along the stem is higher than the electric conductance across the stem in bamboo shoots and sugarcane, while the reverse is true in lettuce stem and mustard stem. The orientation of vascular bundles and the shape of parenchyma cells are proposed to account for the different conductance readings from the same vegetable in different directions. The orientation of vascular bundles appear to influence electric conductance more than the shape of parenchyma cells when both factors are present in the same time.

In situ electrical conductivity measurement of select liquid foods under hydrostatic pressure to 800MPa

“…Electrical conductivity can be influenced by temperature (Palaniappan & Sastry, 1991), electrolyte concentration, chemical content (Rieger, 1994), viscosity (Hamann, Hamnett, & Vielstich, 1998), suspended solids (Palaniappan & Sastry, 1991), electrolytic strength (Hamann et al, 1998), and presence of cell structure (Wang, Kuo, Kuo-Huang, & Wu, 2001). Sensitivity to such variables makes EC an indicator of process-induced changes in food systems.…”

Electrical Conductivity of Cabbage and Daikon Radish as Affected by Electrical Voltage, Frequency, Salt Concentration and Temperature

“…It has been observed that both the orientation of vascular bundles and the shape of parenchyma cells can influence the electrical conductance in vegetables (Wang et al . ). Zareifard et al .…”

Estimating pressure induced changes in vegetable tissue using in situ electrical conductivity measurement and instrumental analysis

“…The electrical conductivity of a material represents its ability to transport electric charge, and its measurement provides a direct measurement of ionic behavior in electrolyte solutions (Kissinger and Heineman, 1996;Min et al, 2007). Various factors can influence electrical conductivity measurements including temperature, electrolyte concentration, suspended solids and cell structure (Min et al, 2007;Wang et al, 2001). Palta et al (1977a,b) utilized electrical conductivity measurement to investigate the mechanism of freeze injury of onion cells.…”