Functional optical coherence tomography (fOCT) biospeckle imaging to investigate response of plant leaves to ultra-short term exposure of Ozone

In this study, response of leaves of Chinese chives (Allium tuberosum) to ozone stress was investigated using functional optical coherence tomography (fOCT) based on biospeckle. The biospeckles arising out of dynamic motion of organelles can reflect the biological activities of plant. The fOCT biospeckle image was obtained by calculating the standard deviation (SD) of the fOCT temporal signal (biospeckle signal) at each and every point from the successively acquired OCT images. Plant leaves were subjected to treatment under different concentrations of O₃, and imaging data were acquired from back and front surfaces of the leaves. The internal cell structure within the Chinese chives leaves could be clearly visualized in the functional OCT biospeckle image, which was not clearly visible in conventional OCT cross-sectional image. The SDs were found to be increasing significantly, especially in the surface layers of both front and back sides of the leaf with ozone exposure. Thus, the fOCT based on biospeckle is found to be suitable for fast, non-destructive monitoring environmental stresses on plants, which can potentially lead to significant time saving, for which conventional techniques require a few days to a few weeks time.