 Cuticular wax is known to be largely composed of compounds which derive from very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs), such as aldehydes, alcohols, alkanes, ketones, and esters.Also present are other compounds in cuticular wax which are not VLCFA derivatives, such as terpenoids, flavonoids, and sterols, and thus have different synthetic pathways than those VLCFAs.The first step of the biosynthesis pathway for the formation of cuticular VLCFAs, occurs with the de novo biosynthesis of C16 acyl chains (palmitate) by chloroplasts in the mesophyll, and concludes with the extension of these chains in the endoplasmic reticulum of epidermal cells.