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Updated: Aug 15, 2025

Combining Raman Imaging and Multivariate Analysis to Visualize Lignin, Cellulose, and Hemicellulose in the Plant Cell Wall
Published on: June 10, 2017
Good vibrations: Raman spectroscopy enables insights into plant biochemical composition
Alonso Zavafer1, Marilyn C Ball2
1Plant Science Division, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2000, Australia; and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2001, Australia; and Present address: Department Biological Sciences and Yousef Haj-Ahmad Department of Engineering, Brock University, St. Catherines, ON, Canada.
Abstract:
Non-invasive techniques are needed to enable an integrated understanding of plant metabolic responses to environmental stresses. Raman spectroscopy is one such technique, allowing non-destructive chemical characterisation of samples in situ and in vivo and resolving the chemical composition of plant material at scales from microns to metres. Here, we review Raman band assignments of pigments, structural and non-structural carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and secondary metabolites in plant material and consider opportunities this technology raises for studies in vascular plant physiology.
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