LGP'26 B3 Day 3(Tomato)
Jun 06, 2026 • 8:02 PM UTC
India
340x Magnification
Plants
Khushi Baid
Learn about the author...
3posts
0comments
0locations
View in Media Gallery
By this point in the workshop, all of us had become slightly overconfident. We thought sample preparation would now be easy because we had already survived onions and potatoes.
The tomato however quickly humbled us.
The pulp was slippery, watery and literally the messiest thing ever. It was nearly impossible to keep it still on the slide. Every few seconds someone would yell, “MY SAMPLE FELL DOWN!” or “MY HANDS ARE SO DIRTY and others would be running around with gooey tomato pulp asking for tape. But amidst all the chaos, the tomato ended up giving some of the coolest observations yet.
We began with the tomato pulp. At 50x magnification, the sample looked almost fluid-like. A yellow-orange colour spread across the view and small rounded cells were scattered. The structure was a lot more dispersed than that of the potato and it looked more like water droplets. At 140x magnification, the cells became much more visible. Large circular cells could be observed with distinct dark nuclei towards the center. The cells now appeared transparent in certain regions but the reddish colour was still there in some parts. At 340x magnification, the cells looked so much bigger than the earlier observations. Large vacuoles were there in the cell and the cytoplasm was pushed to the sides. Some cells looked almost like a balloon due to their size, transparency and fluid-filled interiors.
After observing the pulp, we moved on to the tomato peel .Unlike the messy pulp, the peel felt much more manageable and had some structure. Although getting a thin enough peel was still difficult, making its sample was a lot easier than the pulp.
At 50x magnification, the tomato peel appeared as a reddish-orange strip with a very rough outline of the cells. The colour was the most noticeable feature at this magnification. At 140x magnification, the cells became clearer and were densely packed. The cell walls were prominent and the structure was compact. Then came 340x magnification, where the peel suddenly resembled a really cool mosaic pattern. The cells had a polyonal-kinda hexagonal shape. The walls were thick and rigid, creating a strong honeycomb-like arrangement. The reddish pigment was visible through all the lenses.
One thing I found really interesting was how different the pulp and peel were despite belonging to the same fruit. The pulp looked loose, watery, and transparent, while the peel looked organized and tightly packed.
Also, by the end of this experiment, our hands smelled permanently like tomatoes-totally worth it though.
The tomato however quickly humbled us.
The pulp was slippery, watery and literally the messiest thing ever. It was nearly impossible to keep it still on the slide. Every few seconds someone would yell, “MY SAMPLE FELL DOWN!” or “MY HANDS ARE SO DIRTY and others would be running around with gooey tomato pulp asking for tape. But amidst all the chaos, the tomato ended up giving some of the coolest observations yet.
We began with the tomato pulp. At 50x magnification, the sample looked almost fluid-like. A yellow-orange colour spread across the view and small rounded cells were scattered. The structure was a lot more dispersed than that of the potato and it looked more like water droplets. At 140x magnification, the cells became much more visible. Large circular cells could be observed with distinct dark nuclei towards the center. The cells now appeared transparent in certain regions but the reddish colour was still there in some parts. At 340x magnification, the cells looked so much bigger than the earlier observations. Large vacuoles were there in the cell and the cytoplasm was pushed to the sides. Some cells looked almost like a balloon due to their size, transparency and fluid-filled interiors.
After observing the pulp, we moved on to the tomato peel .Unlike the messy pulp, the peel felt much more manageable and had some structure. Although getting a thin enough peel was still difficult, making its sample was a lot easier than the pulp.
At 50x magnification, the tomato peel appeared as a reddish-orange strip with a very rough outline of the cells. The colour was the most noticeable feature at this magnification. At 140x magnification, the cells became clearer and were densely packed. The cell walls were prominent and the structure was compact. Then came 340x magnification, where the peel suddenly resembled a really cool mosaic pattern. The cells had a polyonal-kinda hexagonal shape. The walls were thick and rigid, creating a strong honeycomb-like arrangement. The reddish pigment was visible through all the lenses.
One thing I found really interesting was how different the pulp and peel were despite belonging to the same fruit. The pulp looked loose, watery, and transparent, while the peel looked organized and tightly packed.
Also, by the end of this experiment, our hands smelled permanently like tomatoes-totally worth it though.
Sign in to commentNobody has commented yet... Share your thoughts with the author and start the discussion!
0 Applause
0 Comments