Capsicum Peel Under the Microscope
Capsicum Peel (Whole Mount), Capsicum annuum
This is a thin peel of the skin of a pepper fruit, mounted flat and stained with fast green. It shows a neat sheet of plant epidermal cells with clear walls, a good contrast to leaf peels.
This is a whole mount of pepper skin, the thin outer layer peeled from a Capsicum annuum fruit and stained with fast green. It is one sheet of epidermis, the protective outer layer of cells. The cells are many-sided and fit tightly together like floor tiles, with no gaps between them. Their green cell walls make each outline easy to trace. Compare this peel with a leaf peel, which has many stomata, the small pores plants use for gas exchange.
What to look for
- Epidermal cells: Many-sided (polygonal) cells packed tightly like tiles, with no gaps between them.
- Cell walls: Clear green outlines around each cell, forming a mosaic pattern.
- Cell contents: Material inside some cells, which may include small bodies (plastids) and inclusions.
- Stomata: Occasional pairs of guard cells surrounding a small pore may appear in the sheet.
Questions and answers
What do pepper skin cells look like under a microscope?
Pepper skin (exocarp) cells are many-sided cells fitted tightly together like tiles. With fast green stain, their walls show up as clear green outlines.
How is a fruit peel different from a leaf peel?
Both are epidermis, a protective outer layer of cells. Leaf peels, especially from the underside, usually have many stomata for gas exchange, while fruit skin tends to have far fewer.
- Category
- Botany & Plants
- Scan magnification
- 20x
- Stain
- Fast Green
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