Pull-Out Force of Bean Plants Grown in Agar With Fluidic Microchannels

Abstract

Agar have long been used as a growth media in biology and medicine. This contribution reports on the results of pull out force of bean plants grown in agar with nutrients-filled microchannels. A jig was developed for pull-out of individual plants grown in agar with nutrients-filled microchannels. Similar tests were carried out on plants grown in agar without nutrients as comparison. A conventional mechanical test machine was used to perform the pull out on days-old Black Eye bean (Vigna Unguiculata) and Mung bean (Vigna Radiata) plants. During pull out tests, load increases linearly with displacement until a maximum load is reached which corresponds to the observed pull-out of the hypocotyl from the agar. In general, load at pull out increases with age of plants. However, when grown without nutrients bean plants develop long tap root length but that does not necessarily translate to larger pull-out force. These observations suggest agar with channels is a suitable platform to study effect of nutrients on root structure and pull-out force.