Electrolyte leakage was determined

Electrolyte leakage was determined based on the method of McCollum and McDonald (1991). Twelve disks, approximately 3 grams from pulp, were excised with a cock bored and then rinsed with 0.4 M mannital. These tissues were then placed in 50 ml of 0.4 M mannital, and incubated at 25 C for 3 hours (data A). The Electrical conductivity of the solution was measured at room temperature using a conductivity meter (Model EcoScan CON6, EUTECH). Total electrolyte was determined on the same samples after they were autoclaved for 30 min at 121 C and cooled to room temperature (data B). Leakage data was expressed as a percentage of total electrolyte reading.