biology science
Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 7:07 am
how to distill cutin from leaf?
how to know that is cutin?
how to know that is cutin?
Hi,
If you would please give us some details about your project we might be able to help you. Why do you want to isolate cutin? What kind of leaves were you planning to use? What references are you using? The source of cutin and the type of experiment it is used in would determine the method of isolation.
From what i read (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_cuticle), cutin is a cross-linked organic polymer so i don't think it would be possible to distill it. Other experts, please weigh in here with your advice and suggestions!
The cuticle of a leaf contains waxes that would be soluble in organic solvents but these chemicals are all hazardous and would have to be used in a fume hood in a chemistry lab with supervision. By performing an organic extraction of the leaf cuticle you might be able to remove everything except the insoluble cutin polymer but to identify it would require some expensive equipment like a spectrofluorometer, mass spectrometer or nuclear magnetic resonance machine.
A university chemistry department would have all these tools and the expertise to use them, so if you live near a university you could contact someone there, explain your project and ask them to help you. I would do a little online reading first to see what kind of research is being done there so that you could try and find the professor who is most likely to be interested in cutin.
Post again with details of your proposed project and your background references and we will try and help you.
Good luck!
Sybee