TY - JOUR A2 - Chen, Kai AU - Li, Bo AU - Liu, Xuejing AU - Zhang, Junshi PY - 2016 DA - 2016/04/05 TI - Phase Characterization of Cucumber Growth: A Chemical Gel Model SP - 8283245 VL - 2016 AB - Cucumber grows with complex phenomena by changing its volume and shape, which is not fully investigated and challenges agriculture and food safety industry. In order to understand the mechanism and to characterize the growth process, the cucumber is modeled as a hydrogel in swelling and its development is studied in both preharvest and postharvest stages. Based on thermodynamics, constitutive equations, incorporating biological quantities, are established. The growth behavior of cucumber follows the classic theory of continuous or discontinuous phase transition. The mechanism of bulged tail in cucumber is interpreted by phase coexistence and characterized by critical conditions. Conclusions are given for advances in food engineering and novel fabrication techniques in mechanical biology. SN - 1687-9422 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/8283245 DO - 10.1155/2016/8283245 JF - International Journal of Polymer Science PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -