2. Cells ultrastructures of ‘Satta
bhud’ lotus petals on the first day
Upper and lower epidermis of the petals contained 3
sides rather thick of ce
ll wall. The cytoplasm of
some cells was composed of small amount of phenolic co
mpound. The 1 - 3 layers of parenchyma cells in line
arrangement and adjacent to the epiderma
l layer consisted of large amount of fu
ll or almost full in capacity of
phenolic compound and the resin cells s
cattered around this area. The inner st
ructure of cells in this stage was
still in complete form. Almost all of the cells in the
petals contained significant
amount of protoplasm, cell
membrane closed to cell wall
or very turgid (Fig. 3 - 5).
3. Anatomy of ‘Sattabhud’ lotus
petals after 3 days of harvest
Shape and cell wall of epidermal cells were unchanged
, except that of the con
tent in protoplasm.
Because of the shrinkage of protoplasm
this resulted to the separation of
cell membrane from the cell wall. The
shrinkage of protoplasm in the par
enchyma cells adjacent to epidermis were
more than the epidermis cells. This
change in turgidity shrunke the cells due
to cell collapse hence reducing the air sp
ace in the middle of petals (Fig.
6 – 7).
4. Cells ultrastructures of ‘Sattabhud
’ lotus petals after 3 days of harvest
Change observed in cell wall of parenchymas after 3
days of harvest were the shrinkage of protoplasm
from cell wall, collapse structure in the cells and the ad
jacent cells, separation of protoplasm from cell wall and
precipitation of substances in the protoplasm. (Fig. 8 - 10).
The browning symptom in the ‘Sattab
hud’ lotus petals indicated that the area of parenchyma cells in the
mesophyll layers appeared earlier more than other regi
ons. The occurrence of browning symptom resulted from
the change of cells and contents in the cells. The collapse
of cells also caused the co
llapse of the petals. The
distinct precipitation appeared in the cells with large
amount of phenolic compounds
which reacted with enzyme
polyphenol oxidase and oxygen. This re
sulted to the shrinkage and dark
color of the petals. The browning
symptom occurred at the margin of oute
r petal blade and spread into the mi
ddle area. However the browning also
resulted from the external environm
ent factors such as temperatures, rela
tive humidity and amount of oxygen
which could accelerate or delay
the symptom (Fig. 11 - 12).