Parenchyma tissue is composed of cells (parenchyma cells) that are thin-walled, more or less isodiametric, and alive at maturity. Parenchyma cells function in the manufacture of food for the plant (most of the chloroplast-containing cells of the leaf are parenchyma cells) and in the storage of materials within the plant body.

Examples of parenchyma cells from a potato and a tomato are shown below:
 

Thin-walled parenchyma cells from the tuber of an Irish (white) potato, stained with toluidine blue. The granules within the individual cells are starch grains.	Close-up of a single parenchyma cell from potato, showing the starch grains stored within the cell.

Parenchyma cells from the flesh of a tomato.

This page last updated: 13 Sep 1999