Manuela Oliveira, Luísa Azevedo, David Ballard, Wojciech Branicki, Antonio Amorim
The increasing use of plant evidence in forensic investigations gave rise to a powerful new discipline - Forensic Botany - that analyses micro- or macroscopic plant materials, such as the totality or fragments of an organ (i.e., leaves, stems, seeds, fruits, roots) and tissue (i.e., pollen grains, spores, fibers, cork) or its chemical composition (i. e., secondary metabolites, isotopes, DNA, starch grains). Forensic botanists frequently use microscopy, chemical analysis, and botanical expertise to identify and interpret evidence crucial to solving civil and criminal issues, collaborating in enforcing laws or regulations, and ensuring public health safeguards...
September 6, 2023: Plant Science: An International Journal of Experimental Plant Biology