Cell Turgor and Elasticity of Chicory Grown in Different Temperature Conditions

Abstract

Chicory heads (Chichorium intybus L., var. Focus) grown at different nutrient temperatures of 14 °C (group T1) and 18 °C (group T2) for 21 days were used to find a difference in cell characteristics. Air temperature at the growing room was set to 16 °C for both groups. Cell pressure probe technique was employed to determine cell turgor pressure, cell elasticity and half time for water of intact leaf at ambient conditions of about 21 °C and 46% RH. Average volume of 80 epidermal cells of base part of chicory was 62.6µm3 for the group T1 and 92.6µm3 for the group T2. Cell turgor of group T1 showed 0.37 to 0.41 MPa and that of group T2 was 0.35 to 0.43 MPa. The decrease in turgor pressure caused by wilting was observed by continuous measurement for more than 1h. Cell elastic modulus of group T1 ranged 1.41 to 3.54 MPa though that of T2 ranged 3.94 to 14.7 MPa. Similar value of cell turgor was observed for both chicory heads of group T1 and T2 independent of their volume. However, cell elastic modulus was different for two groups and it showed the volume dependency. The smaller value of elastic modulus observed for the chicory heads of group T1 implied the potential of cell expansion if the growing period was set longer than 21 days.