Lavender electrical signal classification

Abstract

Bioinspired approaches offer promising strategies for the development of advanced sensing systems. In this work, we investigate the electrophysiological responses of Lavandula dentata to controlled tactile stimuli applied to different anatomical regions. Electrical signals were recorded under multiple stimulation conditions, including single-finger contact, two-finger contact, and inflorescence compression. The results show that the plant generates distinct and reproducible electrical potential patterns depending on both the stimulation type and the anatomical location. Classification performance reached precision and recall values above 0.95 under single-finger stimulation. Although accuracy decreased under more complex interactions, such as two-finger contact and inflorescence squeezing, responses remained robust for stimulations applied to the stem, peduncle, and leaves. Observed voltage ranges further indicate inter-individual variability across plant samples. In addition, electrical conductivity analysis suggests that detectable responses are preserved under dehydration conditions. These observations suggest that residual ionic conduction and remaining water content may contribute to the persistence of electrical responses under dehydration. The possible influence of essential oils stored in glandular trichomes remains speculative and requires further investigation. These findings support the feasibility of using plant electrophysiology for tactile sensing and highlight the potential of L. dentata as a biohybrid sensing element. The results contribute to the development of plant-based interfaces and open new avenues for integrating living substrates into next-generation tactile sensing technologies.