Time domain (TD)-NMR relaxometry as a tool to investigate the cell integrity of tomato seeds exposed to osmotic stress (OS), ultrasonication (US) and high hydrostatic pressure (HHP).

NMR relaxometry was used to investigate the proton relaxation distribution of the tomato seeds and analyze the damages of the three different processes on the cell membrane integrity of the tomato seed. Tomato seeds were subjected to osmotic stress (OS) (10, 20, 30% NaCl solutions), ultrasonication (US) (5, 10 and 20 min) and high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) (300, 400 and 500 MPa for 15 min at 20 °C). Four peaks were observed in the NMR relaxation spectra of tomato seeds due to multiexponential relation behavior of the plant cell. Each peak corresponds to different water proton compartment within the cell. According to the results, all the three treatments resulted in cell permeabilization and disruption of cellular compartmentalization. Among the treatments, HHP at 500 MPa for 15 min at 20 °C resulted in the most detrimental effect in the cell structure and OS treatment with 10% NaCl solution caused the least changes in the cell structure. In order to further analyze the extent of damage to the cell, tomato seeds exposed to OS, US and HHP were also analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). These results have demonstrated that NMR relaxometry is a useful tool to investigate the cell integrity of tomato seeds subjected to different treatments.