Stress on Beets

Introduction

The components of every cell consists of a thin bilayer of phosolipid and protein molecules that cloeses around the cell. It separates

a cells interior and controls

what comes in and goes out. This is the primary function of the cell membrane. Some other functions include: allow selective receptivity and signal transduction by providing transmembrane receptors that bind signaling molecules and allowing cell recognition. Beets contain betacyanin and I am going to see what kind of stress causes these beets to lose the most amount of betacyanin. For my experiment I am going to test the stress on beet cell membranes. I am going to use different temperature controls to test the stress and report my findings.

I hypothesize that tube 1 at 70Ð'o c the color intensity of leaked betacyanin will be at a 10.

I hypothesize that tube 2 at 55Ð'o c the color intensity of leaked betacyanin will be at an 8.

I hypothesize that tube 3 at 40Ð'o c the color intensity of leaked betacyanin will be at a 5.

I hypothesize that tube 4 at 22Ð'o c the color intensity of leaked betacyanin will be 0.

I hypothesize that tube 5 at 5Ð'o c the color intensity of leaked betacyanin will be at an 8.

I hypothesize that tube 6 at -5Ð'o the color intensity of leaked betacyanin will be at 10.

Method

By finding out what various stress was caused to the beets I used a controlled experiment. I was able to control the temperature starting with first labeling the test tubes by numbers and than with the temperature I would submerge each beet into. I then submerged each beet into a particular temperature starting with 70 c and moving down to the last at Ð'-5 c. Each beet was submerged for approximately 1 minute each and then placed back into the test tube to be soaked in temperature room water for approximately 20 minutes each. Once the 20 minutes was up I then removed each beet and left the water in the beacons for my findings to be reported. This experiment was completely controlled, as I was able to control the temperature of the water for each of the 6 different beets to the exact by using a thermometer.

Results

It was found that the more severe the temperature was away from room temperature the stress of the beet cell membrane caused the betacyanin to leak from the beet and into the water. Starting with 70 c came out as the highest intensity to leak betacyanin. The next tube (tube 2) at 55 c was not as intense but still leaked a fair amount of betacyanin. Tubes 3 and 4 came out to be about the same as they are 40 c and 22 c , respectively. The water looks almost clear with barely any betacyanin but still not completely clear. Tube 5 was my cold experiment with the test tubes as it was only 5 c and it almost the same result as tube 2, it had a fair amount of betacyanin leaked but not as much as tube 6. Tube 6 is by far the darkest of all. It surpassed tube 1 with it's temperature ranging at Ð'-5 c. I have found that the most stress on the beet cell membrane is by submerging the beet into the coldest temperature.

Tube number Treatment Ð'oC Color