EXPERIMENT 3 : INVESTIGATING CELL MEMBRANE PERMEABILITY

USING Curcuma longa (TURMERIC)

MADAM NURUL AIDA BINTI KAMAL EHSAN

PI080S18 – GROUP 4
NIK AHMAD MUQRI BIN NIK AHMAD GHAFRAM 2019250334
NUR AMIRAH HUSNA BINTI MOHD HALIMI 2019287202
NURUL NADHIRAH BINTI MOHD TAHIR 2019265914
NUR HAZIMAH BINTI AHMAD ZAINI 2019269012
SYAZA AISYAH BINTI ABD HALIM 2019421502

TUESDAY,16TH OF JULY
INTRODUCTION

A eukaryotic cell, a cell with a nucleus, not only has a plasma membrane as its external
boundary, but it also has a variety of membranes that divide the internal space into discrete
compartments, separating processes and cell components. The complex and varied design of cell
membranes gives them the remarkable properties that allow them to serve the variety of specific
functions required by different types of cells. One of the most significant properties of
membranes is selective permeability. This permits some molecules and ions to pass freely
through the membrane, but excludes others from doing so. Understanding the structure and
properties of cell membranes is important to understand how cells function. Although the details
of cell membrane composition and structure vary according to its specific function, all of them
are composed mainly of lipids and proteins in a structure known as a lipid bilayer. It is a fluid
structure that allows for the flexibility required for cell growth and movement in addition to the
selective permeability that is so central to membrane function. This experiment allows you to test
the effect of ethanol on cell membranes of Curcuma longa with different concentration which is
fully distilled water, 25% ethanol and 100% ethanol . Ethanol can be found in alcoholic
beverages. One possible reason why alcohols are so dangerous to living organisms is that they
might damage cellular membranes, therefore resulting in the death of the entire cell. The alcohol
solution used in this experiment are clear and colorless. If the turmeric pigment leaks into the
solution, it will turn the solution yellowish orange. The intensity of color in the solution should
be proportional to the amount of cellular damage sustained by the turmeric. As the concentration
of pigment in the solution increases, the yellowish orange color will be brighter.

OBJECTIVE
1. To investigate the effect of ethanol on the structure of cell membrane of Curcuma longa.
RESULTS

OBSERVATION 100%
DISTILLED WATER 25% ETHANOL
(AFTER 15 MINUTES) ETHANOL

COLOUR OF THE Clear with a tinge of

Light yellow Bright yellow
SOLUTION yellow

Not too moist and

CONDITION Moist,watery and swell Dry and shrink
watery
DISCUSSION
In this experiment, we investigated the effect of alcohol on the cell membrane permeability using
Curcuma longa (Turmeric). The fluid mosaic model stipulates that a cell membrane is composed
primarily of a phospholipid bilayer and embedded protein molecules; these molecules are
essential to maintain the structure and function of the membrane, and the integrity of the contents
within the cell. Whilst allowing various materials to enter and exit across the membrane through
selective permeability, this outer membrane can become denatured by specific solvents, such as
ethanol, which causes a disruption in its molecular conformation, consequently increasing
membrane fluidity. One component of plant cells that usually contains water is the vacuole,
which is surrounded by a membrane known as the tonoplast. In C.longa , the vacuole also
contains a water-soluble yellow pigment, curcumin, which gives the turmeric its characteristic
color. If the tonoplast is damaged, however, the contents of the vacuole will spill out into the
surrounding environment. In the case of C.longa, when the membrane is damaged, the bright
yellow pigment will leak out into the surrounding environment. The intensity of color in the
environment should be proportional to the amount of cellular damage sustained by the turmeric.
In the first beaker, two C.longa cylinders are placed into 10ml of distilled water for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes we observed that the colour of the distilled water turned slightly yellow. This is
because the cell membrane of C.longa was already damaged when it was cut into using the cork
borer. So, a bit of yellow pigment leaked out and dissolved in the distilled water. Aside from
that, distilled water should not have any effect on the permeability of turmeric’s cell membrane.
Water can pass through the cell membrane easily through the process osmosis and should not
cause any damage to it.
In the second beaker, two C.longa cylinders are placed into 10ml of 25% ethanol solution. After
15 minutes, we observed that the colour of the solution turned yellow and it was brighter than the
first beaker. From this experiment, we found that ethanol has a strong effect on the structural
properties of the membranes. In particular, the bilayers become more fluid and permeable.
Ethanol is a non-polar solvent, and the phospholipid bilayer of the C.longa cell membrane is also
non polar. Non polar solutes dissolve in non-polar solvents, and lipids dissolve in alcohol
(ethanol is an organic solvent that can dissolve non polar and even some polar substances), thus
the cell membrane will be disrupted as the lipids are dissolved by the ethanol solution. This
means that the structure will be altered and there will be more gaps in the phospholipid bilayer,
thus the membrane will be more permeable, and more of the C.longa's yellow pigment will leak
out into the alcohol solvent, causing the solution to become a yellow colour.
When the C.longa was put inside 100% ethanol, the color was the brightest compared to the
others after 10 minutes. The color of the ethanol solution changes into bright yellow because a
lot of the curcumin pigments leaked out. This because of the high concentration of ethanol that
damages the lipid and protein structure in the phospholipid bilayer. High concentration of
ethanol also make the cholesterol soluble and it cannot hold the phospholipid bilayers together.
As the cholesterol is no longer present, the bilayer becomes more fluid and large gaps form. The
damages and the increase of fluidity makes the gaps between the components become larger and
allowing large molecules such as curcumin to go out of the cells easily. Ethanol is also able to
form temporary bonds with the phospholipid heads in the bilayer as they are opposite dipoles.
This causes the phospholipids to pull slightly out of places forming large gaps. In this case, as
the concentration of the ethanol is so high, the protein in the bilayer can also be denatured.
Denaturants disrupt the hydrogen bonds which maintain secondary structure by forming
hydrogen bond with R-groups. The slightly negative ethanol molecules cause the bonds between
the amino acid chain’s R-groups to break and form bonds with ethanol instead thus altering the
structure of the protein. The concentration of the ethanol in this beaker is much higher than the
previous beaker and so the damage to the cell membrane is worse and much larger gaps and
holes are formed. Thus, more pigments leak out resulting in a much brighter coloured solution.
CONCLUSION
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