A bottle filled with previously moistened mustard seeds and water was screw-capped tightly and placed in a corner. After 30 minutes, it suddenly blew up. This is the process involved

The correct option is Imbibition.

Explanation:
Imbibition is a special type of diffusion in which water or any other liquid is absorbed by solid particles (colloids), causing them to enormously increase in volume. This process occurs without forming a solution. The solid substance that absorbs the water is called the imbibant (in this case, the dry mustard seeds), and the liquid being absorbed is the imbibate (water).

Let us break down the physical process step-by-step to understand why the bottle blew up:
1. Adsorption of Water: Dry or moistened mustard seeds contain hydrophilic colloids (such as proteins, lipids, and cellulose) that have a strong affinity for water. When water is present, these hydrophilic materials adsorb water molecules onto their surfaces.
2. Volume Expansion: As water molecules enter the seeds, they occupy space within the seed structure, causing the seeds to swell significantly and increase in volume.
3. Development of Imbibition Pressure: Since the bottle is screw-capped tightly, there is no extra space for this volume expansion to take place. As a result, the swelling seeds exert a massive physical force against the inner walls of the container. This pressure is known as imbibition pressure (or matrix potential).
4. Explosion: The magnitude of imbibition pressure is extremely high (often reaching hundreds of atmospheres). After 30 minutes of continuous water absorption and pressure buildup, the pressure exceeds the structural strength of the bottle, causing it to suddenly blow up.

Let us briefly look at why the other options are incorrect:
- Osmosis: Osmosis is the movement of solvent molecules through a semi-permeable membrane from a region of lower solute concentration to a region of higher solute concentration. While water enters the seeds, the primary force generating the massive pressure that ruptures the bottle is the swelling of solid colloids (imbibition) rather than osmotic pressure across a semi-permeable membrane.
- Diffusion: Diffusion is the general movement of particles from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Imbibition is indeed a type of diffusion, but "imbibition" is the most specific and accurate term representing the absorption of water by solid adsorbents.
- DPD (Diffusion Pressure Deficit): DPD is the measure of the tendency of a system to absorb water (often called suction pressure). It is a parameter/value, not the physical process of absorption and swelling itself.