Phenanthrene sorption by fruit cuticles (tomato, apple, and grape), potato tuber periderm, and their fractions were investigated to elucidate effects of compositional characteristics on affinity of plant cuticle (above-ground) and periderm (below-ground) with hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs). The distinct roles of the extractable lipids (waxes), the depolymerizable lipids (cutin/suberin), the nonsaponifiable lipids (cutan/suberan) and polysaccharide are discussed. The cutin/suberin rather than waxes dominates the sorption properties of bulk cuticle/periderm, but the sorption coefficient (K(d)) is linearly correlated with the total lipid contents. Polysaccharide plays a negative role in HOC sorption due to its obviously poor affinity with HOCs and restriction effect on the other powerful sorptive regions in cuticle/periderm. The significantly lower sorption of periderm than cuticle is attributed to the former having higher polysaccharide and lower depolymerizable lipids. The linear correlation of K(d) of bulk cuticle/periderm with polysaccharide content is observed for a potential prediction of plant uptake.