Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Xylem and Transpiration-driven Transport of Resources

Xylem and Transpiration-driven Transport of Resources

The xylem of vascular plants distributes water and dissolved minerals that are taken up by the roots to the rest of the plant. The cells that transport xylem sap are dead upon maturity, and the movement of xylem sap is a passive process.

Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss

Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss

Though evaporation from plant leaves drives transpiration, it also results in loss of water. Because water is critical for photosynthetic reactions and other cellular processes, evolutionary pressures on plants in different environments have driven the acquisition of adaptations that reduce water loss.

Diffusion

Diffusion

Diffusion is a type of passive transport. In passive transport, a substance tends to move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration until the concentration is equal across the space. For example, take the diffusion of substances through the air. When someone opens a perfume bottle in a room filled with people, the perfume is at its highest concentration in the bottle and is at its lowest at the edges of the room. The perfume vapor will diffuse, or spread away, from the...

Water and Mineral Acquisition

Water and Mineral Acquisition

Specialized tissues in plant roots have evolved to capture water, minerals, and some ions from the soil. Roots exhibit a variety of branching patterns that facilitate this process. The outermost root cells have specialized structures called root hairs that increase the root surface, thus increasing soil contact. Water can passively cross into roots, as the concentration of water in the soil is higher than that of the root tissue. Minerals, in contrast, are actively transported into root cells.

Responses to Drought and Flooding

Responses to Drought and Flooding

Water plays a significant role in the life cycle of plants. However, insufficient or excess of water can be detrimental and pose a serious threat to plants.

Osmosis

Osmosis

Osmosis is the movement of free water molecules through a semipermeable membrane. The water's concentration gradient across the membrane is inversely proportional to the solutes' concentration. Whereas diffusion transports material across membranes and within cells, osmosis transports only water across a membrane, and the membrane limits the diffusion of solutes in the water. Osmosis is a special case of diffusion.
Water, like other substances, moves from a high concentration of...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Onset and propagation of slip at adhesive elastic interfaces.

Physical review. E·2024

Same author

Fifty years of Schallamach waves: from rubber friction to nanoscale fracture.

Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences·2022

Same author

Propagating Schallamach-type waves resemble interface cracks.

Physical review. E·2022

Same author

Microbial induced calcite precipitation can consolidate martian and lunar regolith simulants.

PloS one·2022

Same author

Surface-Stress Induced Embrittlement of Metals.

Nano letters·2021

Same author

Organic monolayers disrupt plastic flow in metals.

Science advances·2020

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 11, 2025

Measurement of Leaf Hydraulic Conductance and Stomatal Conductance and Their Responses to Irradiance and Dehydration Using the Evaporative Flux Method EFM

Measurement of Leaf Hydraulic Conductance and Stomatal Conductance and Their Responses to Irradiance and Dehydration Using the Evaporative Flux Method EFM

Published on: December 31, 2012

Diffusion of water in palm leaf materials.

Debapriya Pinaki Mohanty¹, Anirudh Udupa¹, Koushik Viswanathan²

¹Center for Materials Processing and Tribology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface

|December 1, 2021

Summary

Water diffusion in areca palm leaf sheaths was quantified, revealing faster transport in the matrix than fibers. Accounting for swelling is crucial for accurate diffusion coefficient estimation in plant materials.

Keywords:

areca palm diffusion foodware in situ imaging plant materials swelling

More Related Videos

The Infiltration-centrifugation Technique for Extraction of Apoplastic Fluid from Plant Leaves Using Phaseolus vulgaris as an Example

The Infiltration-centrifugation Technique for Extraction of Apoplastic Fluid from Plant Leaves Using Phaseolus vulgaris as an Example

Published on: December 19, 2014

Measuring the Osmotic Water Permeability Coefficient Pf of Spherical Cells: Isolated Plant Protoplasts as an Example

Measuring the Osmotic Water Permeability Coefficient Pf of Spherical Cells: Isolated Plant Protoplasts as an Example

Published on: October 8, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Oct 11, 2025

Measurement of Leaf Hydraulic Conductance and Stomatal Conductance and Their Responses to Irradiance and Dehydration Using the Evaporative Flux Method EFM

Measurement of Leaf Hydraulic Conductance and Stomatal Conductance and Their Responses to Irradiance and Dehydration Using the Evaporative Flux Method EFM

Published on: December 31, 2012

The Infiltration-centrifugation Technique for Extraction of Apoplastic Fluid from Plant Leaves Using Phaseolus vulgaris as an Example

The Infiltration-centrifugation Technique for Extraction of Apoplastic Fluid from Plant Leaves Using Phaseolus vulgaris as an Example

Published on: December 19, 2014

Measuring the Osmotic Water Permeability Coefficient Pf of Spherical Cells: Isolated Plant Protoplasts as an Example

Measuring the Osmotic Water Permeability Coefficient Pf of Spherical Cells: Isolated Plant Protoplasts as an Example

Published on: October 8, 2014

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Plant Biology
Biomaterials Engineering

Background:

Water diffusion impacts plant material properties like strength and formability.
Areca palm leaf sheath is a hierarchical plant material used in sustainable foodware.
Understanding water transport is key for optimizing processing and product longevity.

Purpose of the Study:

To characterize water diffusion in areca palm leaf sheath.
To investigate the influence of material swelling on diffusion coefficients.
To analyze microstructural effects on water transport and salt concentration impacts.

Main Methods:

Mass gain measurements and in situ imaging to study water transport.
Homogeneous ensemble model incorporating swelling effects to estimate diffusion coefficient.
High-resolution imaging and image correlation to map microstructural diffusion and strain.

Main Results:

Estimated water diffusion coefficient D = (6.5 ± 2.2) × 10⁻⁴ mm²/s, with swelling significantly impacting accuracy.
Water diffusion is ~10x faster in the matrix (8.63 × 10⁻⁴ mm²/s) than in fibers (7.19 × 10⁻⁵ mm²/s).
Observed non-monotonic dependence of diffusion on NaCl concentration.

Conclusions:

Accurate water diffusion modeling in plant materials requires accounting for swelling.
Hierarchical structure of areca sheath leads to anisotropic water transport.
Findings can inform improved manufacturing of eco-friendly foodware from plant-based materials.