Question

If you are provided with some vegetables to cook. You generally add salt to the vegetables during the cooking process. After adding salt, vegetables release water. What mechanism is responsible for this?
A. Endosmosis
B. Diffusion
C. Exosmosis
D. Guttation

Answer 1

In exosmosis, water moves from higher concentration to lower concentration. Due to exosmosis, cells become flaccid.

Complete answer: Generally, we add salt to the vegetables during the cooking process and vegetables release water, this is due to exosmosis. In exosmosis, water moves from higher concentration to lower concentration through the semipermeable membrane. As the concentration of water inside the cell (in vegetables) is greater than the outside environment (hypertonic). Therefore, the cell releases water in the outside environment and shrinks. Moreover, in exosmosis water moves out of the cell.

Additional information: Endosmosis involves movement of water inside the cell.
As a result, the cell swells up. Guttation is the process of loss of water from the leaf (generally at the margin) due to root pressure. It occurs due to the intake of excess water.
Guttation generally occurs either in the night or in the morning.

So, the correct answer is C. 'Exosmosis'

Note: Adding salt to the vegetables during cooking also fastens the boiling of vegetables. As the enzyme hemicellulose (responsible for holding vegetable fibres together) present in the vegetables breaks down readily.