Plant Cuticle and Suberin

Abstract Plant cuticle comprises an insoluble lipid‐derived polymeric structural component – cutin – embedded in a complex mixture of soluble lipids (‘wax’). When a plant needs to erect a barrier to seal a wound or to generate an internal diffusion‐resistant compartment, a polymeric cell wall accrustation – suberin – together with soluble waxes is deposited. Both polymers can be degraded, analysed and characterized. The epidermal cells and suberizing cells have specialized enzymes that convert the common cellular fatty acids into the unique components of the cuticle and suberin.