Heads up vegans! As per FoodBeast, it looks like plants don't want to be eater after all. A research that was conducted back in 2014 in the University of Missouri, plants are capable of feeling specific vibrations emitted by pests who would want to eat them. The plants would then have a specific defense mechanism in which they would release a mild toxic chemical to stop them from being eaten.
The test was conducted by using "thale cress" which is a plant that is closely related to broccoli, kale and mustard greens. As per the website, researchers prefer using thale cress as it is widely used for testing, simply because it was the first plant to have its whole genome sequenced. Due to its special property, it gives the researchers ample knowledge on how the plant functions.
Heidi Appel, the research scientist who co-conducted the study, explained:
"Previous research has investigated how plants respond to acoustic energy, including music. However, our work is the first example of how plants respond to an ecologically relevant vibration. We found that feeding vibrations signal changes in the plant cells' metabolism, creating more defensive chemicals that can repel attacks from caterpillars."
AgWeb which focused on the studies then added that any increase or abnormalities in anthocyanins was solely exhibited by the Arabidpdid pants as they were able to hear the chewing vibrations being made by their predators.
Appel then added that :
"Decades ago, basic research on plant hormones provided the understanding necessary for the eventual discovery of herbicides, there may be an equally important discovery that arises from this work, and we certainly hope so."
Plants may be able to protect themselves from predators by applying the fight or flight mechanism, they are however unable to feel pain. They may have resistance to avoid being eaten, they can however feel no pain.
