Leaf epicuticular lipids of Prunus laurocerasus: importance of extraction methods

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Compounds of four chemical classes (alkanes, primary alcohols, free fatty acids and polar lipids) were isolated, identified and quantified for the first time from the epicuticular waxes of Prunus laurocerasus leaves. Alkanes were the major class and constituted 80% of the wax. Using chloroform, more wax was removed from leaves after dipping for 210 sec than by rinsing for the same length of time. Duration of solvent contact also had an effect on the composition of the soluble cuticular lipids extracted. Alkanes and primary alcohols were extracted earlier than fatty acids and, whatever the class of compounds, short chain-length homologues (C 16C 25) needed more time to be extracted from the cuticle than longer ones (C 26C 35).