Water and Solute Permeability of Plant Cuticles: Measurement and ...
Water and Solute Permeability of Plant Cuticles: Measurement and ...
Water and Solute Permeability of Plant Cuticles: Measurement and ...
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Chapter 7<br />
Accelerators Increase <strong>Solute</strong> <strong>Permeability</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Cuticles</strong><br />
Many agrochemicals are sprayed on leaves <strong>of</strong> weeds <strong>and</strong> crop plants. Foliar<br />
application minimises contamination <strong>of</strong> the soil <strong>and</strong> inactivation or degradation <strong>of</strong><br />
active ingredients by soil microorganisms. Binding to constituents <strong>of</strong> the soil is also<br />
avoided. Systemic active ingredients must penetrate cuticles before they reach their<br />
sites <strong>of</strong> action in the leaves or in other organs <strong>of</strong> the plants following translocation<br />
(Kirkwood 1999). Pesticides are always formulated to improve wetting, deposition,<br />
rain fastness <strong>and</strong> rates <strong>of</strong> cuticular penetration. Formulations are mixtures <strong>of</strong> active<br />
ingredient, solvents, carriers, emulsifiers, wetting agents, etc. Compounds added to<br />
active ingredients are called adjuvants. Most adjuvants are biologically inert, but<br />
they improve biological performance (Kirkwood 1993). Surface active agents (surfactants)<br />
are typical adjuvants, <strong>and</strong> among other things they improve adhesion <strong>and</strong><br />
spreading <strong>of</strong> spray droplets on the leaf surface. Surfactants may also act as emulsifiers<br />
for active ingredients having a low water solubility, <strong>and</strong> after droplet drying<br />
they can maintain the spray deposits on the cuticle in the liquid state by solvent <strong>and</strong><br />
by hygroscopic action (Baur 1999; Baur et al. 1997b, 1999; Tadros 1987).<br />
Some adjuvants increase diffusion coefficients <strong>of</strong> solutes in wax <strong>and</strong> cutin. This<br />
is accomplished by increasing fluidity <strong>of</strong> waxes <strong>and</strong> cutin polymer chains. As a<br />
consequence, permeability <strong>of</strong> cuticles to solutes is increased (Schönherr <strong>and</strong> Bauer<br />
1994). In the technical polymer literature, compounds which render brittle polymers<br />
more flexible by increasing fluidity <strong>of</strong> polymer chains are called plasticisers.<br />
They intercalate between polymer chains, <strong>and</strong> they are added to the polymer melt<br />
during production (Gächter <strong>and</strong> Müller 1990). Plasticisers useful for increasing diffusion<br />
coefficients <strong>of</strong> solutes in cuticles have been termed accelerators (Schönherr<br />
1993a, b). Some surfactants are very effective plasticisers, but surface activity is not<br />
a prerequisite for the plasticising activity. Accelerators must be added to the formulation,<br />
<strong>and</strong> they are applied to the cuticle at the same time as the active ingredient.<br />
Hence, it is a prerequisite for their usefulness that they penetrate faster into the waxy<br />
limiting barrier <strong>of</strong> the cuticle than the active ingredient, <strong>and</strong> they should remain<br />
sorbed in the wax until most <strong>of</strong> the active ingredient has penetrated the cuticle.<br />
In this chapter we deal with the mechanistic aspects <strong>of</strong> sorption <strong>and</strong> diffusion<br />
<strong>of</strong> plasticisers in wax <strong>and</strong> in cuticles, <strong>and</strong> their effect on permeability. All other<br />
L. Schreiber <strong>and</strong> J. Schönherr, <strong>Water</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Solute</strong> <strong>Permeability</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Plant</strong> <strong>Cuticles</strong>.<br />
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009<br />
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