Suberin

Suberin, interconnected with cutins and lignins, also complex macromolecules, form a protective barrier in the epidermal and peridermal cell walls of higher plants.

The cells in this layer are dead and abundant in suberin, preventing water loss from the tissues below.

The exact qualitative and quantitative composition of suberin monomers varies in different species.

The role of glycerol is proposed to interlink aliphatic monomers, and possibly also to link polyaliphatics to polyaromatics, during suberin polymer assembly.

The polymerization step of aromatic monomers has been shown to involve a peroxidase reaction.