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How Does Chemical Stress Affect Beet Cells

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Chemical stress affected the cell membrane of a beet cell, because of the higher amount of ethanol added to the beet. For example, we added 1% ethanol, 25% ethanol, and 50% ethanol to 3 test tubes with 15 mm of beets inside. We left it with no air inside for 30 minutes then tested the absorbance of the ethanol without the beet. The class got roughly 0.273 for the 1% ethanol, 1.205 for the 25% ethanol, and 1.882 for the 50% ethanol concentration. In each solution, the ethanol was a bit redder than the last. In the pre-lab, we read a few paragraphs on the process of the cell membrane and what happens with a beet cell membrane. We now know that beets contain a red pigment called betacyanin, which is located in the vacuoles of the cells. We learned that as long as the cell and the membranes are intact, then the betacyanin will stay in the cells. …show more content…

This proves that chemical stress affecting the cell membrane of the beet was caused by the adding of ethanol in higher concentrations because the alcohol affects the cell membrane by attaching the cell membrane like water does cause it the changing shape and create a hole big enough for more alcohol to get in. This also causes alcohol to damage the vacuole causing the betacyanin to get released and the red pigment to get transferred into the ethanol around the beet. In conclusion, the chemical stress affected the cell membrane of a beet cell, because of the higher amount of ethanol added to the beet caused the cell membrane to change shape which resulted in the betacyanin being released from the cells. These results affect me because I have always wanted to understand why anything that the beets get mixed with, food, water, bowls, etc, will turn

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