Time domain dielectric spectroscopy of plant stems

Measurement of the dielectric properties of biological materials is important for many reasons. One in particular is the comparison of the properties of living systems with each other and with inorganic materials. Such studies can lead to a better understanding of the various conduction and polarization processes in living systems exposed to applied fields and perhaps to the development of models for non-thermal electromagnetic bioeffects. Unfortunately the in-vivo determination of the dielectric properties of biomateriale is often complicated by electrode effects. This paper describes two time-domain methods used to eliminate the contribution from electrodes and then obtain the intrinsic dielectric properties of plant stems.