The root is the main organ for plants to absorb water and mineral nutrients, and it is also the organ for
the synthesis, assimilation and transformation of important substances in plants such as amino acids and
hormones. Therefore, the growth and activity of roots directly affect the growth of individual plants. Nutrient
level and yield level, etc. Root vigor has important practical significance.
TTC can be reduced to insoluble red triphenylformazan (TTF) by hydrogen, and TTF has an absorption
peak at 485 nm. When the TTC solution penetrates into the root tissue of the plant, the reducing substances
produced by the respiration process can reduce it to TTF (red), and the root tissue of the plant is stained red.
The root vigor can be expressed by the reduction amount of TTC. The root activity detected by this method
is the dehydrogenase activity of plant roots.
Reagents and Equipment Required but Not Provided:
Spectrophotometer/microplate reader, centrifuge, water bath/incubator, adjustable pipette, micro glass
cuvettes/96-well plates (non-polystyrene), mortar/homogenizer, ethyl acetate, ice and distilled water.