Electrical impedance studies of stem tissue of Solanum clones during cooling

Abstract

Specific electrical impedance measurements made on the stems or petioles of four varieties of Solanum were found to discriminate various clones when the plants were grown and tested under carefully controlled conditions. Frost hardiness of clones was related to the depression of the freezing point in the absence of supercooling, to the specific resistance at 4.4 °C, to the slope of the log impedance – temperature cooling curves, and to the position of the temperature recovery curve after chilling. The technique appears to be potentially useful for selection of frost resistant clones in breeding for this property.