A permeation–diffusion–reaction model of gas transport in cellular tissue of plant materials

• Published in: Journal of experimental botany Vol. 57; no. 15; pp. 4215 - 4224
• Main Authors: Ho, Q. Tri, Verlinden, Bert E., Verboven, Pieter, Vandewalle, Stefan, Nicolaï, Bart M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01.12.2006; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Biological Transport; Carbon Dioxide - metabolism; Cell physiology; Coefficients; Controlled atmosphere; Diffusion; Diffusion coefficient; Extracellular space; Fruit - metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gas transport; Gaseous diffusion; Liquid phases; measurement set-up; Modeling; modelling; Models, Biological; Nitrogen - metabolism; Oxygen - metabolism; Permeability; permeation; Plant physiology and development; Plasma membrane and permeation; Postharvest technology; Pyrus - cytology; Pyrus - metabolism; Pyrus communis; Research Papers; Respiration; storage; Tissue samples; Plant tissue; Pyrus communis; diffusion; Rosaceae; storage; Controlled atmosphere; modelling; permeation; Dicotyledones; gas transport; Angiospermae; Spermatophyta; measurement set-up
• ISSN: 0022-0957; 1460-2431
• DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erl198

Gas transport in fruit tissue is governed by both diffusion and permeation. The latter phenomenon is caused by overall pressure gradients which may develop due to the large difference in O2 and CO2 diffusivity during controlled atmosphere storage of the fruit. A measurement set-up for tissue permeation based on unsteady-state gas exchange was developed. The gas permeability of pear tissue was determined based on an analytical gas transport model. The overall gas transport in pear tissue samples was validated using a finite element model describing simultaneous O2, CO2, and N2 gas transport, taking into account O2 consumption and CO2 production due to respiration. The results showed that the model described the experimentally determined permeability of N2 very well. The average experimentally determined values for permeation of skin, cortex samples, and the vascular bundle samples were (2.17±1.71)×10−19 m2, (2.35±1.96)×10−19 m2, and (4.51±3.12)×10−17 m2, respectively. The permeation–diffusion–reaction model can be applied to study gas transport in intact pears in relation to product quality.