Monitoring Biopolymers Present in Plant Cuticles by FT-IR Spectroscopy

The usefulness of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for identifying functional groups ascribed to different biopolymers present in isolated plant cuticles is described and their relationships to the structure of the plant cuticle are discussed. For this purpose the isolated cuticle from Clivia miniata leaf has been investigated. The ability of the FTIR technique to follow the isolation of the main components of isolated plant cuticles is also discussed.