Like everyone else I studied ‘stomata’ when I was in school, however never got to see those till I purchased a Foldscope. The Foldscope is an amazing instrument and can be a great teaching aid in classrooms. Capturing stomata images can be very tricky. You need to be able to take an epidermal peel from lower side of a leaf, which isn’t easy and depends upon the plant you choose for observation.
Here are some images of leaves and stomata that I was able to capture using Foldscope
Stomata From Onion Leaf
Looks like I was finally able to see stomata using #Foldscope. This was epidermal peel of onion leaf. @TeamFoldscope does this look like it ? Also any suggestions for easy to obtain staining agents in India. I feel staining might have made a big difference ! pic.twitter.com/6kV6SS8beY
— ashish (@patilsaheb) November 23, 2019
Stomata from Fenugreek Leaf
Zoom into the images and you should see stomata at the border of irregular cell walls
Cells of Fenugreek (Methi) leaf seen using #Foldscope. I feel stomata are clearly visible in the first image. pic.twitter.com/9dECHpOtUl
— ashish (@patilsaheb) January 18, 2020
Stomata Using Dark Field
Stomata can be very clearly seen using dark field observation techniques. Using some digital zoom on my camera I was able to resolve more details, you can almost kind of see the gaurd cells.
Attempted dark field microscopy using #foldscope and a bindi ( https://t.co/rNeiJZ5oBs ) which I borrowed from my wife. Amazed with the results. Checkout the last stomata image. We can almost see 3D structure of the stomata. Feels like electron microscope stuff ..lol pic.twitter.com/au0FImiVKU
— ashish (@patilsaheb) March 27, 2020
