A combined FT-IR microscopy and principle component analysis-was-used to investigate chemical variations between softwood species as well as types of wood cell walls; latewood tracheids, earlywood tracheids and earlywood ray parenchyma cells. The method allowed us to detect small spectral differences between cell types rather than species and to predict characteristic chemical components of each cell type. The method enabled information-to be obtained which allowed a evaluation of the polysaccharide composition even in lignified woody plant cell walls. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.