A KINETIC EXAMINATION OF ION LEAKAGE FROM CHILLED TOMATO PERICARP DISKS

Chilling sensitivity of tomato pericarp tissue can be significantly altered by temperature pre-treatments. The physiological cause for this conditioning is being studied by examining the kinetics of ion leakage. There appears to be two sources of ions; a fast, small compartment that could be the cell wall, and a slow, much larger compartment that could be the cytoplasm and vacuole. An exponential equation was derived to describe ion diffusion from chilled tissue. Data of ion leakage from chilled tomato pericarp disks were fitted to the equation, and the coefficients of the equation representing the rates of ion leakage and the amount of ions in the two compartments verified the model, equation and method of analysis.