Definitions of Free and Bound Water in Plants and a Comparative Analysis of the Drying Method over a Dewatering Agent and Differential Scanning Calorimetry

The article presents the results of a comparative study of two drying methods: over a dehydrating medium and differential scanning calorimetry. Measurements of the amount of free and bound water were performed in plant tissues with different osmotic pressures of the cytoplasm. The results of the comparison revealed a number of limitations for both methods. The physiological and structural features of the studied object must be to taken into account. The most complete estimation of the amount of free and bound water in plant tissues is possible via freezing on a differential scanning calorimeter, but this method also has limitations in the study of tissues with a high content of water-sorbing molecules.