Ascorbic Acid Formation in Potato Tuber Slices

Smith, F. G. Walton

doi:10.1104/pp.27.4.736

Cited by 23 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 11 publications

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“…(11) with the experimental values will be the subject of another detailed study. Moreover, the electrical conduction through the food tissue depends on the concentrations of ions in particular K þ and Na þ , proteins and organic acids such as ascorbic acid in potatoes 17 and amino acids in garlic. 18 Different ions found in food tissue participate in the electrical conduction but sugar and starch are uncharged molecules so do not conduct electrical current.…”

Section: Which Givesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrical energy from foods

Abdalla

Al-Ghamdi

2011

Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy

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Presenting new sources of safe energy sources is not only an urgent need but also a vital input for social and economic development. In this work, we present a novel technology to produce electric energy from food; in particular from commercial potatoes. The food has been sandwiched between two metals; for example, Zn/potatoes/Cu and the open circuit electric potentials V oc have been measured. It has been found that V oc lay in the range V oc 0.32 V < V oc < 1.39 V and decays exponentially by time. The open circuit potential varies from food to another and depends also on the metallic contacts and food thickness. It has been found that V oc is a function of the potatoes thickness, which has a maximum at 1.05 V and the corresponding maximum short circuit current is about 1.7 mA. The internal resistivity for the potatoes battery is about 1.4 Â 10 4 X cm and the metallic electrodes resistance is about 57.4 X Â area for Zn/Cu electrodes. The short circuit current depends on the nature of the metallic electrodes and the food itself. This current is very sensitive to the food thickness. At a critical thickness when the potato slice is about 0.18 cm, the maximum short circuit current density of the potatoes battery is about 15.7 lA/cm 2 . The maximum electric power, generated at 0.18 cm, equals155 lW/cm 2 . The Zn/potatoes/Cu battery has electric capacity 2.57 times more efficient than an AA/LR6 1.5 V alkaline Energizer V R battery. Also, cost analysis has showed that potatoes-cells generate electric energy 26 fold cheaper than commercially available Energizer V R battery. This work presents a new energy source: Safe, economic, durable, and renewable; also it can fit most applications.

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Section: Which Givesmentioning

confidence: 99%