NEET BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Answer: The waxy covering on plant leaves, young stems, and fruit is called the “cuticle". It is composed of cutin, a wax-like material produced by the plant that is chemically a hydroxy fatty acid. The purpose of this covering is to help the plant retain water.

Detailed explanation-2: -A cuticle is a non-cellular waxy layer secreted by epidermal cells. It protects the epidermis and reduces water loss.

Detailed explanation-3: -Cuticle is built of cutin, waxes and polysaccharides. The hydrophobic biopolymer cutin is a polyester of hydroxy and/or epoxy fatty acids, with the addition of a relatively low amount of glycerol, and sometimes phenolics.

Detailed explanation-4: -cuticle, the outer layer or part of an organism that comes in contact with the environment. In many invertebrates the dead, noncellular cuticle is secreted by the epidermis. This layer may, as in the arthropods, contain pigments and chitin; in humans the cuticle is the epidermis.

Detailed explanation-5: -The cuticle is well known for its functions as a diffusion barrier limiting water and solute transport across the apoplast and for its protection of the plant against chemical and mechanical damage, as well as pest and pathogen attack (Riederer, 2006).