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Tonicity in Plants

Tonicity in Plants

Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water. It depends on the quantity of solute that does not penetrate the membrane. Tonicity delimits the magnitude and direction of osmosis and results in three possible scenarios that alter the volume of a cell: hypertonicity, hypotonicity, and isotonicity. Due to differences in structure and physiology, tonicity of plant cells is different from that of animal cells in some scenarios.

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.

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.

Tonicity in Plants

Tonicity in Plants

Plant cells maintain appropriate osmotic balance in extreme conditions. For instance, plants in dry environments store water in vacuoles, limit the opening of their stoma, and have thick, waxy cuticles to prevent unnecessary water loss. Some species of plants that live in salty environments store salt in their roots. As a result, water osmosis occurs in the root from the surrounding soil.
Tonicity
Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water depending on the solute...

Extraction: Advanced Methods

Extraction: Advanced Methods

Metal ions can be separated from one another by complexation with organic ligands–the chelating agent– to form uncharged chelates. Here, the chelating agent must contain hydrophobic groups and behave as a weak acid, losing a proton to bind with the metal. Since most organic ligands used in this process are insoluble or undergo oxidation in the aqueous phase, the chelating agent is initially added to the organic phase and extracted into the aqueous phase. The metal-ligand complex is formed in...

Volatilization

Volatilization

Volatilization gravimetry is an analytical technique that measures the mass lost due to the volatilization of the substance. This technique is used to estimate the amount of volatile material in a sample. To perform this method, heat a known amount of the sample to a high temperature in a crucible or other suitable vessel. The volatile substance in the sample evaporates, and the vapor is completely expelled from the crucible either by heating the sample or bubbling a stream of inert gas through...

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Updated: May 29, 2026

Characterization of Complex Systems Using the Design of Experiments Approach: Transient Protein Expression in Tobacco as a Case Study

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Water Determination in Plants by Karl Fischer with Extraction.

Cuiying Ma¹, Jesse Aplin², Nadine Lo²

¹Science of Dietary Supplements and Herbal Medicines.

Journal of AOAC International

|January 17, 2026

Summary

A new greener Karl Fischer titration method with formamide extraction effectively determines water content in diverse plant materials. This method offers an accurate, repeatable, and robust alternative to traditional, hazardous techniques like azeotropic-toluene distillation.

Keywords:

KF direct titration with extraction Water determination in plant materials green approach herbal medicines and spices

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Last Updated: May 29, 2026

Characterization of Complex Systems Using the Design of Experiments Approach: Transient Protein Expression in Tobacco as a Case Study

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Published on: January 31, 2014

Qualitative Characterization of the Aqueous Fraction from Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Algae Using 2D Gas Chromatography with Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry

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Comparison of Tobacco Host Cell Protein Removal Methods by Blanching Intact Plants or by Heat Treatment of Extracts

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Published on: August 8, 2016

Area of Science:

Analytical Chemistry
Pharmacognosy
Green Chemistry

Background:

Traditional water determination methods like loss on drying (LOD) and azeotropic-toluene distillation (ATD) have limitations for plant materials.
ATD is environmentally hazardous due to toluene use and can lose volatile components alongside water.
Direct Karl Fischer (KF) titration may struggle with water trapped in plant cells.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a greener, more effective method for determining water content in plant materials.
To address the limitations of existing methods for plant-based samples.

Main Methods:

Development and validation of an alternative method using Karl Fischer (KF) direct titration with formamide as an extraction solvent.
Comparison of results with loss on drying (LOD) and direct titration using other solvents.

Main Results:

The newly developed KF direct titration with formamide extraction method met validation criteria for accuracy, repeatability, and robustness.
Effective water content determination was achieved across various plant species and parts (fruit peel, root, rhizome, bark, cremocarp, bulb).

Conclusions:

The KF direct titration with formamide extraction provides an effective and validated approach for water determination in plant materials.
This method offers a greener and more specific alternative to conventional techniques.