ABSTRACT
Although the application of NMR techniques to seeds, herbs, plant tissues, etc., is a minority interest among spectroscopists, NMR provides a range of problem-solving tools that can be applied in many areas of plant biochemistry and plant physiology (Pouliquen et al. 1997, Ishida et al. 2000, Ratcliffe et al. 2001, Glidewell 2006, Garnczarska et al. 2007, 2008) as well as related foods (Todt et al. 2006, Spyros and Dais 2009). These methods have been employed productively for over 35 years, and the combination of the continuing technological development of NMR itself, and the rapid strides that are taking place in the genetic manipulation of plants should ensure that application of plant NMR spectroscopy is very informative in structural analysis of macromolecules and whole biosystems (cells, tissues, seeds, etc.). In addition to different spectral techniques, imaging can provide very clear pictorial information on complex biosystems. For instance, an NMR microscope can nondestructively detect free water in tissues and create anatomical images of the plant tissues. Since the quantity and mobility of cell-associated water is closely related to the condition of the cells, 1H NMR images represent physiological maps of the tissue (Ishida et al. 2000). In addition, the technique locates soluble organic compounds accumulated in the tissues, such as sugars in vacuoles or fatty acids stored as oil droplets in vesicles. 23Na NMR imaging is suitable for studying the physiology of salt-tolerant plants. Diffusion measurements provide information about the transport of substances and ions accompanied by water movement. The developed techniques of 3D imaging, ow-encoded imaging, and spectroscopic imaging open up new opportunities for plant biologists. NMR microscope is thus a unique and promising tool for the study of living plant systems in relation to morphology, the true features of which are often lost during preparation for more conventional tissue analysis (Ishida et al. 2000). In this chapter, the behavior of water bound in different plants, seeds, and the corresponding products and related interfacial phenomena are briey analyzed.
