Even if you've never wondered what our everyday food looks like in extreme close-up, these photographs taken through an electron microscope can impress with their beauty and originality.

The fact is that a simple optical microscope is limited in its resolution by the wavelength of light. A smaller object will be bent by the light wave, so the reflected signal will not be able to return to the device sensor and we will not receive any information. It’s another matter when, instead of a beam of light, a stream of electrons is directed at an object - they are reflected, being comparable in size, and return to the bowels of the microscope, carrying with them various information about the object.

The only thing we can no longer do, having found ourselves so deep in the microworld, is see and distinguish colors, because... They are essentially not there yet. Therefore, all the bright colors presented in photographs taken through a scanning electron microscope are the fruit of the work of artists.

The broccoli flower, for example, looks like a tulip. So if your girlfriend is having a holiday and you forgot to buy flowers, you can just take Broccoli out of the refrigerator and hold it up with a microscope :)

This alien planet is actually nothing more than blueberries. This is impressive, but will anyone eat blueberries after this? You give a whole Constellation of Yogurt at once!

A grain of salt is an example of a typical fractal shape. Both outside and inside there is the same crystal pattern.

Airy mint chocolate. As we can see, inside the small pores of the chocolate there are even smaller pores of the mint filling.

Strawberry. In the foreground is a crunchy, buttery seed. The vague fibrousness of this berry is now more than tangible.

Bird's eye chili pepper. The smallest representative of Chile looks solid and respectable, it can even be confused with a chocolate bar with nuts.

Raw meat . These are fibers! If it were not for the nutritional value of this product, it would truly be fabric for clothing.

Cooked meat. But after boiling and frying, the fibers crumble and break, which makes the work easier for our teeth and our stomach.

White grapes. Who would have thought that this homogeneous jelly inside the grape berry has such a porous character. It is probably the microporosity that creates that familiar tingling sensation on the tongue (as if bubbles are exploding).

Elegant and spicy, saffron tastes like bark from a wood processing plant. A piquant piece of gigantic wood.

The dried anise fruit resembles a cephalopod that has too many legs.

Coffee granules. Even knowing what it really is, it’s still hard to believe: these delicate sponges painted with hieroglyphs are amazing! If companies producing granulated coffee placed such photographs on their packaging, they would most likely be able to significantly increase their sales.

Sugar . Fractal brother of salt crystals. Who says that nature does not tolerate right angles?

Sweetener "Aspartame". So think about it: can an uneven, holey ball replace a polished cube or parallelepiped?

Tomato . Or is it still the honeycombs of red Martian bees? Scientists do not yet know the exact answer to this question.

The roasted coffee bean just begs to have a nut placed in its microcells and concreted on the outside with cream.

Romanesco cabbage. Perhaps this is the only product that resembles itself in the macrocosm.

Almonds are layers of heat-resistant carbohydrate slabs. If they were bigger, it would be possible to assemble a house.

If almonds are a house, then powdered sugar on a cupcake is upholstered furniture. Why does all junk food look so cozy?

Onion . As you can see, these are quite rough layers of sandpaper. That's what those who don't like onions will say. Others will note the resemblance to velvet carpets.

The inside of the radish crumbles into entire deposits of precious stones and volcanic rocks.

So, we are convinced that our everyday food, in a highly exaggerated form, evokes strong associations with rocks, minerals and even space objects. What if one day - in the depths of the Universe - we discover entire planets and star systems consisting entirely of organic matter, including edible matter? We simply must be ready for this! The development of food spaces and the colonization of the edible landscape is the main topic of research by the famous American photographer and writer Christopher Boffoli. He called his collection “Inconsistency”; by the way, human figures were attached to the surface with agave nectar.

A repair team inspects a broken egg. Nothing can be done: now this hole will have to be repaired.

Banana roads promise to be the most convenient overpass for cyclists.

Robbery in the fig area. Previously, they didn’t even lock the doors there at night.

Be careful around melon holes.

The candy deposit scouts are moving with confidence and assessing the scale of the development.

Children play in the snow on cupcake hill. Make sure no one falls and catches a cold.

Waffle meadows are considered the best places for bees.

A worker brushing a sausage with dough. They say that Harry was too zealous with mustard, but that is not his fault: the unions decide everything.

Students of general education institutions study the cellular structure of plant organisms in the sixth grade. Biological laboratories equipped with observational equipment use an optical magnifying glass or microscopy. Cells of tomato pulp microscope are studied in practical classes and arouse genuine interest among schoolchildren, because it becomes possible, not in the pictures of a textbook, but to see with their own eyes the features of the microworld that are not visible to the naked eye with optics. The branch of biology that systematizes knowledge about the totality of flora is called botany. The subject of the description are also tomatoes, which are described in this article.

Tomato, according to modern classification, belongs to the dicotyledonous pynopetalous family of Solanaceae. A perennial herbaceous cultivated plant, widely used and grown in agriculture. They have a juicy fruit that is consumed by humans due to its high nutritional and taste qualities. From a botanical point of view, these are polyspermous berries, but in non-scientific activities, in everyday life, people often classify them as vegetables, which is considered erroneous by scientists. It is distinguished by a developed root system, a straight branching stem, and a multi-locular generative organ weighing from 50 to 800 grams or more. They are quite high in calories and healthy, increase the effectiveness of the immune system and promote the formation of hemoglobin. They contain proteins, starch, minerals, glucose and fructose, fatty and organic acids.

Preparation of a microslide for examination under a microscope.

The preparation must be microscoped using the bright field method in transmitted light. Fixation with alcohol or formaldehyde is not done; living cells are observed. The sample is prepared using the following method:

• Using metal tweezers, carefully remove the skin;
• Place a sheet of paper on the table, and on it a clean rectangular glass slide, in the center of which drop one drop of water with a pipette;
• Using a scalpel, cut off a small piece of flesh, spread it over the glass with a dissecting needle, and cover the top with a square cover slip. Due to the presence of liquid, glass surfaces will stick together.
• In some cases, tinting with a solution of iodine or brilliant green can be used to increase contrast;
• Viewing starts at the lowest magnification - a 4x objective and a 10x eyepiece are used, i.e. it turns out 40 times. This will ensure the maximum viewing angle, allow you to correctly center the microsample on the stage and quickly focus;
• Then increase the magnification to 100x and 400x. At larger zooms, use the fine focusing screw in 0.002 millimeter increments. This will eliminate image shake and improve clarity.

What organelles can be seen in tomato pulp cells under a microscope:

1. Granular cytoplasm - internal semi-liquid medium;
2. Limiting plasma membrane;
3. The nucleus, which contains genes, and the nucleolus;
4. Thin connecting threads - strands;
5. Single-membrane organelle vacuole responsible for secretion functions;
6. Crystallized chromoplasts of bright color. Their color is influenced by pigments - it ranges from reddish or orange to yellow;

Recommendations: educational models are suitable for examining tomatoes - for example, Biomed-1, Levenhuk Rainbow 2L, Micromed R-1-LED. At the same time, use the lower LED, mirror or halogen backlight.

Task 1. Examination of onion skin.

4. Draw a conclusion.

Answer. The skin of an onion consists of cells that fit tightly together.

Task 2. Examination of tomato cells (watermelon, apple).

1. Prepare a microslide of the fruit pulp. To do this, use a dissecting needle to separate a small piece of pulp from a cut tomato (watermelon, apple) and place it in a drop of water on a glass slide. Spread the dissecting needle in a drop of water and cover with a coverslip.

Answer. What to do. Take the pulp of the fruit. Place it in a drop of water on a glass slide (2).

2. Examine the microslide under a microscope. Find individual cells. Look at the cells at low magnification and then at high magnification.

Mark the color of the cell. Explain why the drop of water changed its color and why did this happen?

Answer. The color of the flesh cells of a watermelon is red, and that of an apple is yellow. A drop of water changes its color because it receives the cell sap contained in the vacuoles.

3. Draw a conclusion.

Answer. A living plant organism consists of cells. The contents of the cell are represented by semi-liquid transparent cytoplasm, which contains a denser nucleus with a nucleolus. The cell membrane is transparent, dense, elastic, does not allow the cytoplasm to spread, and gives it a certain shape. Some areas of the shell are thinner - these are pores, through which communication between cells occurs.

Thus, the cell is the structural unit of the plant

Even with the naked eye, or even better under a magnifying glass, you can see that the pulp of a ripe watermelon, tomato, or apple consists of very small grains or grains. These are cells - the smallest “building blocks” that make up the bodies of all living organisms.

What are we doing? Let's make a temporary microslide of a tomato fruit.

Wipe the slide and cover glass with a napkin. Use a pipette to place a drop of water on the glass slide (1).

What to do. Using a dissecting needle, take a small piece of fruit pulp and place it in a drop of water on a glass slide. Mash the pulp with a dissecting needle until you obtain a paste (2).

Cover with a cover glass and remove excess water with filter paper (3).

What to do. Examine the temporary microslide with a magnifying glass.

What we are seeing. It is clearly visible that the pulp of the tomato fruit has a granular structure (4).

These are the cells of the pulp of the tomato fruit.

What we do: Examine the microslide under a microscope. Find individual cells and examine them at low magnification (10x6), and then (5) at high magnification (10x30).

What we are seeing. The color of the tomato fruit cell has changed.

A drop of water also changed its color.

Conclusion: The main parts of a plant cell are the cell membrane, the cytoplasm with plastids, the nucleus, and vacuoles. The presence of plastids in the cell is a characteristic feature of all representatives of the plant kingdom.

While studying plant science, botany and carpology in practice, it is interesting to touch upon the topic of the apple tree and its multi-seeded, indehiscent fruits, which humans have eaten since ancient times. There are many varieties, the most common type is “domestic”. It is from it that manufacturers all over the world make canned food and drinks. Looking at the apple under microscope one can note the similarity of the structure with a berry, which has a thin shell and a juicy core and contains multicellular structures - seeds.

The apple is the final stage of flower development on the apple tree, occurring after double fertilization. Formed from the ovary of the pistil. From it the pericarp (or pericarp) is formed, which performs a protective function and serves for further reproduction. It, in turn, is divided into three layers: exocarp (outer), mesocarp (middle), endocarp (inner).

Analyzing the morphology of apple tissue at the cell level, we can distinguish the main organelles:

• Cytoplasm is a semi-liquid medium of organic and inorganic substances. For example, salts, monosaccharides, carboxylic acids. It combines all components into a single biological mechanism, providing endoplasmic cyclosis.
• A vacuole is an empty space filled with cell sap. It organizes salt metabolism and serves to remove metabolic products.
• The nucleus is the carrier of genetic material. It is surrounded by a membrane.

Methods of observation apple under a microscope:

• Transmitted lighting. The light source is located under the test drug. The microsample itself must be very thin, almost transparent. For these purposes, a slice is prepared using the technology described below.

Preparation of a microslide of apple pulp:

1. Use a scalpel to make a rectangular incision and carefully remove the skin with tweezers;
2. Using a medical dissecting needle with a straight tip, transfer a piece of flesh to the center of the slide;
3. Using a pipette, add one drop of water and a dye, for example, a solution of brilliant green;
4. Cover with a coverslip;

It is best to start microscopying with a low magnification of 40x, gradually increasing the magnification to 400x (maximum 640x). The results can be recorded digitally by displaying the image on a computer screen using an eyepiece camera. It is usually purchased as an additional accessory and is characterized by the number of megapixels. It was used to take the photos presented in this article. To take a photo, you need to focus and press the virtual photo button in the program interface. Short videos are made in the same way. The software includes functionality that allows linear and angular measurements of areas of particular interest to the observer.