Cytokinins play a decisive role in regulation of plastid development and differentiation, but their metabolism in plastids is not known. Metabolic studies using intact chloroplasts are prevented by their instability once they are isolated from leaf cells. Chloroplasts of Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Petit Havana SR1 were therefore immobilized into low-viscosity alginate. Their intactness was assessed by a glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase assay which indicated that free chloroplasts totally disintegrated within 7 h, while more than 50% of immobilized chloroplasts remained intact after 24 h. The immobilization had no marked impact on ultrastructure and postponed final destruction. The metabolite profile was similar in free and immobilized chloroplasts after 4 h incubation with tritiated zeatin. Nevertheless, the yield of conversion products decreased twice in immobilized chloroplasts, which was probably the outcome of mass transfer limitations and/or the sorption to polysaccharide matrix.