A study of some aspects of essential oil secretion in plants was conducted. The first part of the study involved analysis of the volatile terpenoid content and composition of leaf extracts from a range of Australian native plants by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Secretory structures were studied by several microscopic imaging techniques including conventional bright and dark field optical microscopy, confocal microscopy, and scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy. Three methods were employed for scanning electron microscopy. Sample material was prepared for conventional SEM by chemical fixation and rapid freeze fixation, and fresh material was imaged by environmental SEM. These methods were compared, and the images acquired by environmental SEM were invariably of a superior standard as the biological integrity of the samples was retained throughout, and the samples were free of process-induced artefacts. Several other tests were conducted and results discussed in some detail. In the final part of the study, aspects of essential oil secretion were examined by histochemical methods. The first of these was a new method based on traditional approaches to histochemistry. The monoterpene phenols thymol and carvacrol were located in glandular trichomes of Lamiaceae species by means of a colour-change reaction of the phenols with a nitrosophenol/acid reagent. The second used magnetic resonance imaging by a chemical shift selective method to locate, non invasively, the aromatic monoterpenes thymol and anethole in secretory structures in the fruit of Carum copticum (Apiaceae) and the leaves of Backhousia anisata (Myrtaceae) respectively. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) (Science)

Thesis (M. Sc.)(Chemistry)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Summaries in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.(Chemical Engineering)--University of Pretoria, 2000. / Summaries in English and Afrikaans. Adobe Acrobat Reader needed to open files.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2003. / A thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, College of Science, Technology and Environment, University of Western Sydney, May, 2003. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 42-46). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Mémoire (M.Sc.)--Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1990. / Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Thesis (PH. D.)--Columbia University, 1932. / Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. "Literature cited": p. 36-37.

Thesis (PH. D.)--Columbia University, 1932. / Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. "Literature cited": p. 36-37.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1915. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 52-60).