Self-Organized Crystallization Patterns from Evaporating Droplets of Common Wheat Grain Leakages as a Potential Tool for Quality Analysis

Abstract

We studied the evaporation-induced pattern formation in droplets of common wheat kernel leakages prepared out of ancient and modern wheat cultivars as a possible tool for wheat quality analysis. The experiments showed that the substances which passed into the water during the soaking of the kernels created crystalline structures with different degrees of complexity while the droplets were evaporating. The forms ranged from spots and simple structures with single ramifications, through dendrites, up to highly organized hexagonal shapes and fractal-like structures. The patterns were observed and photographed using dark field microscopy in small magnifications. The evaluation of the patterns was performed both visually and by means of the fractal dimension analysis. From the results, it can be inferred that the wheat cultivars differed in their pattern-forming capacities. Two of the analyzed wheat cultivars showed poor pattern formation, whereas another two created well-formed and complex patterns. Additionally, the wheat cultivars were analyzed for their vigor by means of the germination test and measurement of the electrical conductivity of the grain leakages. The results showed that the more vigorous cultivars also created more complex patterns, whereas the weaker cultivars created predominantly poor forms. This observation suggests a correlation between the wheat seed quality and droplet evaporation patterns.

Characterization of zigzag patterns on the surface of bovine serum albumin films

“…This fact has found practical application in some research and diagnostic methods of medicine and agriculture: the study of the interaction of biomolecules [5], the diagnosis of the patient's blood condition [6][7][8][9][10], the analysis of the quality of wheat grains [11,12] and carrot roots [13,14].…”

“…Depending on the type of pattern or texture, various authors offered such evaluation criteria as: the number of optical density fluctuations [9] or the brightness distribution of the digital image [11] in circular sections of different diameters; the fractal dimension of Minkowski [5] and the local connected fractal dimension of the image [12]; parameters of gray-scale histograms at several scales [13][14][15]; the structural and spectral characteristics of an image region as a function of time [10].…”

The Unseen Water: Experimentation with Scientific Photomicrography and Creative Coding

“…After the evaporation, water is no longer a liquid; dry solids or other substances become watermarks, which represent what is water composition. This natural process of drying reveals the unique, informative capacity of droplets as well as the shapes, patterns, details, and characteristics of water (Kokornaczyk et al 2011). Desiccated drops of water that were attacked by secondary electrons look different from one another in the same environmental conditions.…”

Self-assembly by multi-drop evaporation of carbon-nanotube droplets on a polycarbonate substrate

“…If thermal Marangoni forces are more important, a particle accumulation can take place around the center of the evaporated drop [15]. Uniform depositing can also occur by self-assembly [12,16]. It is worthy to note that the interaction between the particles and the substrate can play an important role in the final shape of the patterns [16].…”

“…Uniform depositing can also occur by self-assembly [12,16]. It is worthy to note that the interaction between the particles and the substrate can play an important role in the final shape of the patterns [16].…”