Simple measurement of phenolic esters in plant cell walls

Phenolic esters may cross-link plant cell wall carbohydrates, strengthening the cell wall and affecting texture of the resulting plant food. In order to measure this effect, it is necessary to obtain some measure of the ester -linked (saponifiable) cinnamic acids in the cell wall. This paper describe s a simple procedure which uses ultraviolet absorption as a measure of the ester linked phenolics from a standardized cell wall preparation. HPLC is u sed to confirm the presence of cinnamic acids in the saponifiable extracts. Carrot and broccoli are used as typical vegetables. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd. All rights reserved.