THE DENSITY AND THE SIZE OF RAPHID CALCIUM OXALATE CRYSTALS OF EDIBLE ARACEAE SPECIES

Abstract A study on the density and the size of raphid calcium oxalate crystals in leaves, petioles and corms of Xanthosoma violaceum (bentul), Colocasia esculenta (kimpul), Amorphophalus companulatus (suweg) and Alocasia macrorrhiza (senthe) has been carried out using Randomised Completely Block Design with 5 replicates. The leaves, petioles and corms were made slides using free hand section method. The density and the size of raphid calcium oxalate crystals were observed under a light microscope. The results showed that senthe leaf contained the highest density of raphid crystals but bentul corm was the lowest. Density of raphid crystals without considering the organ showed that senthe had the highest density of raphid crystals but bentul was the lowest. Moreover, the density of raphid crystals with ignoring the species showed that the leaf had the highest raphid crystals number but the corm was the lowest. The data of raphid crystals size showed that suweg corm had the biggest size of raphid crystals but kimpul leaf was the smallest. Key word : Calcium oxalate crystal, raphid National Academ