During a laboratory experiment, a student immerses epidermal leaf peel in a hypertonic solution. After some time, the student examined the cells under a microscope and observed that :

When an epidermal leaf peel is immersed in a hypertonic solution (a solution with a higher solute concentration than the cell sap), water moves out of the cell through the semi-permeable plasma membrane via the process of exosmosis.

As the cell loses water, the following occurs:

• The protoplast (the living contents of the cell, including the cytoplasm and nucleus) shrinks and pulls away from the rigid cell wall.
• This specific physiological state is known as plasmolysis.

Therefore, the student observes that the cells are plasmolysed. In contrast, a hypotonic solution would lead to endosmosis, causing the cells to swell and build turgor pressure (Option A and C), while an isotonic solution would result in no net movement of water, leaving the cell size unaffected (Option D).