Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are synthesized by many bacteria as inclusion bodies, and their biodegradability and structural diversity have been studied with a view to their potential application as biodegradable materials. In this paper, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to carry out rapid qualitative analysis of PHA in intact bacterial cells. The FT-IR spectra of pure PHA containing short-chain-length monomers, such as hydroxybutyrate (HB), medium-chain-length hydroxyalkanoate (mclHA) monomers including hydroxyoctanoate (HO) and hydroxydecanoate (HD), or both HE and mclHA monomers, showed their strong characteristic band at 1728 cm(-1), 1740 cm(-1) or 1732 cm(-1) respectively. Other accompanying bands near 1280 cm(-1) and 1165 cm(-1) helped identify the types of PHA. The intensity of the methylene band near 2925 cm(-1) provided additional information for PHA characterization. In comparison, bacterial cells accumulating the above PHA also showed strong marker bands at 1732 cm(-1) 1744 cm(-1) or 1739 cm(-1), corresponding to intracellular PHB, mclPHA and P(HB + mclHA) respectively. The accompanying bands visible in pure PHA were also observable in the intact cells. The FT-IR results were further confirmed by gas chromatography analysis.