Diffusion of sucrose and yohimbine in calcium alginate gel beads with or without entrapped plant cells

The diffusion characteristics of sucrose, a nutrient, and yohimbine, a secondary metabolite, in alginate gel beads, with or without entrapped periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) or apple (Malus domestica) cells, were investigated. Effective diffusivities of both solutes in the gel beads were determined by two different methods from transient concentration changes in well‐stirred solutions where the beads were suspended. The linear plot method developed in this work is easy to use and requires no data from the initial periods of diffusion experiments. It was found that while the cell‐free beads provided only minor diffusional resistance to both solutes, the effective diffusivities of both solutes decreased significantly with the presence of cells in the beads and the amount of reduction was proportional to the amount of cell loading. Further, the effective diffusivity of sucrose appeared to be slightly larger than that of yohimbine under identical conditions. It was also observed that permeabilization of apple cells with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) led to an increase in effective diffusivity with the effect being more significant for yohimbine.