Date of Award

8-1982

Degree Type

Master's Essay - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biological Sciences

First Advisor

William Millington

Second Advisor

Ronald Jodat

Third Advisor

Martin Seitz

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study the suitability of using AC electrical impedance measurements to monitor and model the growth and development of a crop, the tomato, while "on the vine." The use of impedance measurements is an indirect technique in which the measurements are correlated with known states of the specimen. At this point, the various states can be quantified. The critical quantities obtained from the impedance measurements are displayed via complex plane impedance plots. An equivalent circuit model is constructed such that various microscopic regions within the system are represented by particular elements of the circuit. The significant impedance quantities are directly related to these circuit elements. The technique of conducting AC electrical impedance measurements has been successfully used in previous studies on germinating castor beans and ripening banana fruit. The results obtained from this experimental procedure support earlier studies which advanced the use of AC electrical impedance studies to monitor and model the development of plant structures. The critical impedance quantities used in the analysts were able to be correlated to the structural and biochemical changes occurring at various stages within the development cycle. The appropriateness of the general equivalent circuit model for plant tissue is, again, reinforced.

Comments

A Thesis submitted to' the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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