Frequency signature of water activity by biospeckle laser

Abstract

Biospeckle laser technique has become an important tool to investigate biological activity in several areas of science. However, due to the complexity of biological materials it is necessary to develop research processes that ensure greater efficiency in isolating areas of different activities in the same material using the biospeckle. Thus, alternative techniques, such as those related to spectral domain, allow approaches that provide a means for frequency and isolation marking of various observed phenomena. The possibility of creating frequency markers related to physical or chemical phenomena under biospeckle laser monitoring opens the way for important applications in the analysis of biological materials. In seeds, for example, one research challenge is the creation of a methodology to analyze their vigor undermining the influence of water activity. This study aimed to use wavelet transform to create maps in frequency of biological material, particularly from maize and bean seeds, seeking to isolate water activity. Wavelet transform was used in conjunction with traditional biospeckle laser methods, Fujii, Generalized Differences and Time History Speckle Patterns. The data analysis allowed access of information in different frequencies, making it possible to map activities that only occur at certain frequencies in the seeds associated to particular areas they operate, as in the case of activities present in the embryo as well as those present in the endosperm. Thus the work enabled the identification of frequency bands where water activity may be operating creating a signature useful in further works.