Cuticle Fragment
Definition
A portion of the waxy cuticle layer from a leaf, stem, or fruit surface. Cuticle resists gastric acid and physical digestion and retains identifiable epidermal cell patterns, stomatal complexes, and trichome bases even after hours in the stomach or intestine.
- Source
- Waxy outer layer of leaf, stem, or fruit
- Key property
- Resists gastric acid and digestion
- Diagnostic features
- Stomatal complexes, trichome bases, epidermal cell patterns
- Application
- Gastric content and stomach content analysis
Common questions
Why can cuticle fragments still be identified hours after ingestion when other plant tissue is gone?+
The cuticle is a largely inert, waxy cutin layer that gastric enzymes and acid do not readily break down, so its surface cell patterns survive digestion long after softer leaf tissue has been dissolved or macerated.
What can a cuticle fragment tell an investigator that a whole plant sample could not?+
Recovered directly from stomach contents, it links a specific plant species to the time of the last meal or ingestion event, which is useful when no plant material is found at the scene itself.
Related terms
- Gastric Emptying Time
- The time required for food to move from the stomach into the duodenum. Liquid empties in 1-2 hours; a solid mixed meal...
- Ingested Pollen
- Pollen consumed via honey, herbal preparations, strongly flavoured teas, or pollen-rich foods. Pollen grains resist gastric digestion and are recovered from stomach...
- Sclerenchyma
- A plant tissue composed of thick-walled, lignified cells including fibres and stone cells (sclereids). Sclerenchyma cells are physically resistant to digestion and...
- Starch Grain
- A storage carbohydrate granule produced by plants. Each major food plant species produces starch grains with a characteristic size, shape, and hilum...
- Testa Fragment
- A portion of the seed coat. Testa fragments from food seeds (sesame, tomato, raspberry, fig, and so on) retain species-diagnostic surface sculptures...