ABSTRACT
Infrared (IR) imaging and Raman chemical imaging have advantages over conventional methods to investigate heterogeneous plant structures in providing quantitative and qualitative analyses with the spatial distribution of the components. Combined with multivariate statistical analysis, they have been proven to be powerful nondestructive analytical tools in applications in plant materials. This review aims to present a general perspective about IR imaging and Raman chemical imaging in plant materials. The first section will introduce a variety of characteristics with the underlying principles, respectively. And the second section will review selected application in the latest literature, such as discrimination of different plant samples, investigation of the microstructures of leaf, identification of the cell wall components, and study of the microstructure and quality of cereal grains. And the last section is conclusion.