ELECTROKINETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF ISOLATED PEPPER CUTICLES IN PROTONIC FORM

Transport of NaCl solutions (0.001 M < C < 0.1 M) across isolated pepp er cuticles in protonic form was studied. Cuticle characteristic param eters such as isoelectric point, resistance, salt permeability, concen tration of fixed charge and cation transport number were determined. C uticle asymmetry, due to its morphological heterogeneity, was detected from DC resistance and diffusion experiments. Biopolymer matrix resis tance was determined (extrapolation at C = 0). A comparison of the res ults obtained with native pepper cuticles shows a more open structure for the pepper cuticle in protonic form.