Measuring Membrane Permeability
Beetroot cells contain a purple pigment called betalain that leaks out when the cell membrane becomes more permeable. This makes beetroot an excellent tool for investigating factors that affect membrane permeability.
To set up this experiment, you'll need to cut beetroot into identical cubes, clean off any initially released pigment, and then subject these cubes to different conditions. If testing temperature effects, place each cube in distilled water at different temperatures 80°C−100°C. For solvent concentration tests, create a dilution series of ethanol (0%-100%) in distilled water.
After leaving the beetroot cubes in solution for about 20 minutes, filter the samples and measure the amount of pigment released using a colorimeter with a blue filter. The higher the absorbance reading, the more pigment has leaked out, indicating greater membrane permeability.
Quick Tip: The more pigment you can see in the water, the more permeable the membrane has become. This visual indicator makes it easy to see results even before using the colorimeter!