Single-sided Time Domain-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance to Study the Effect of Cell Membrane Electroporation on the Water Mobility in Vegetal Tissues

Abstract

This paper presents the characteristics of potato and apple tissues, with/out electroporation, by Time Domain-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (TD-NMR). A portable TD-NMR was used to measure the proton relaxation time, T2, and the changes in the cells due to molecular water mobility of potato tubers,-NMR to identify the modifications that occurred at the cell level involving water molecules mobility in potato tubers and apple tissues after the electroporation treatment and compared with non-electroporated ones. The comparisons with normal potato and apple tissue and preliminary measurements in bulk were performed. Samples were also analyzed in terms of conductivity of the tissue and microscopic morphology. The results indicate that the electroporation process effect is identified with a variation of the peak position in T2 distribution, associated with sub-cell modifications.