Plant Cell Walls and Food Quality

Introduction Plant cell walls constitute the key structural components of plants and many foods derived thereof. For decades, it has also been appreciated that they play a central role in determining the quality characteristics of many plant-based foods, particularly texture (Van Buren 1979). There is an implicit assumption that by understanding the physics, chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology underpinning the physiology of plant cell walls, it should be possible to manipulate plant structure and therefore cell-walldependent quality characteristics. The majority of cell-wall-related research has focused on understanding walls in relation to the physiology of plants. Nevertheless, a substantial amount has been directly aimed at aspects of “food quality.” The purpose of this review is to explore the role of cell walls in relation to the latter. It is divided into 5 further sections—Section 2 seeks to clarify what “quality” is so as to put into context Sections 3 to 6. Section 3 briefly describes the plant cell wall in edible plant organs; Sections 4 and 5 focus on the role of cell walls in relation to a range of quality criteria; and Section 6 discusses the range of food-chain activities that can be used to control cell-wall properties and difficulties encountered.