Possibility of using tomato plants as biosensor in the fertilization systems

Abstract

The response of plants to external stimuli is manifested by different physiological and morphological changes. The results presented in this paper are related to the "neurophysiologyof plants" and quantify the behavior of the plants to external stimuli, respectively the availability of water and nutrients, behavior expressed by quantitative modifications of the electric potential. The potential differences were continuously monitored, under controlled environmental conditions, in the greenhouse of the Institute of Agriculture and Environmental Research, within the UASVM Iasi, with readings 5 to 5 seconds, using two electrodes inserted into the stem of tomato plants, connected to a pico-ammeter. The systematic models of the variation of the electric potential, with values between 4.6 and 5.8 nA, can be used as tools for early evaluation of the conditions of water and nutritional stress, including the use of the system as a biosensor forfertigation.