Ex Situ Reconstitution of the Plant Biopolyester Suberin as a Film

Biopolymers often have unique properties of considerable interest as a basis for new materials. It is however not evident how to ext. them from plants without destroying their chem. skeleton and inherent properties. Here the authors report the ex situ reconstitution of the biopolyester suberin as a new waterproof and antimicrobial material. In plant cell walls, suberin, a crosslinked network of arom. and aliph. monomers, builds up a hydrophobic protective and antimicrobial barrier. Recently the authors succeeded in extg. suberin from the plant cell wall using the ionic liq. cholinium hexanoate. During extn. the native three-dimensional structure of suberin was partially preserved. This preservation is the key for its ex situ reconstitution. Without any chem. additives or purifn., the suberin composing macromols. undergo self-assocn. on the casting surface forming a film. Suberin films obtained show barrier properties similar to those of the suberin barrier in plants, including a potentially broad bactericidal effect