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When added to foods or other materials for the express purpose of maintaining moisture content, hygroscopic materials are known as humectants. Materials and compounds exhibit different hygroscopic properties, and this difference can lead to detrimental effects, such as stress concentration in composite materials. The volume of a particular ...
A term derived from "cultivated variety" denoting an assemblage of cultivated plants clearly distinguished by one or more characters (morphological, physiological, cytological, chemical, or other). When reproduced (either sexually or asexually), the assemblage retains its distinguishing characters.
Haustorial – specialized roots that invade other plants and absorb nutrients from those plants. Lignotuber – root tissue that allows plants to regenerate after fire or other damage. Primary – root that develop from the radicle of the embryo, and is normally the first root to emerge from the seed as it germinates.
Plants absorb water from the soil, which then evaporates from their shoots and leaves; this process is known as transpiration.If placed in a dry environment, a typical mesophytic plant would evaporate water faster than the rate of water uptake from the soil, leading to wilting and even death.
(pl.) aboiteaux A sluice or conduit built beneath a coastal dike, with a hinged gate or a one-way valve that closes during high tide, preventing salt water from flowing into the sluice and flooding the land behind the dike, but remains open during low tide, allowing fresh water precipitation and irrigation runoff to drain from the land into the sea; or a method of land reclamation which relies ...
The water cycle (known scientifically as the hydrologic cycle) is the continuous exchange of water within the hydrosphere, between the atmosphere, soil water, surface water, groundwater, and plants. Water moves perpetually through each of these regions in the water cycle consisting of the following transfer processes:
The term epiphytic derives from Greek epi- 'upon' and phyton 'plant'. Epiphytic plants are sometimes called "air plants" because they do not root in soil. However, that term is inaccurate, as there are many aquatic species of algae that are epiphytes on other aquatic plants (seaweeds or aquatic angiosperms).
In bioproducts like food, grains, and pharmaceuticals like vaccines, the solvent to be removed is almost invariably water. Desiccation may be synonymous with drying or considered an extreme form of drying. In the most common case, a gas stream, e.g., air, applies the heat by convection and carries away the vapor as humidity.