Comparative study of ashing techniques for the digestion of horticultural plant samples

Abstract

024spectrometer and compared with the spectra derived from authentic compounds or with published spectra. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe compounds isolated and their relative abundance in cinnamon leaf, stem bark, and root bark oils are shown in Table I. Of the compounds identified, eight have not previously been reported in cinnamon oils. The new compounds were the monoterpene, terpinolene, the sesquiterpene, caryophyllene oxide, and six aromatic compounds (benzaldehyde, methyl chavicol, hydrocinnamaldehyde, 2-phenylethyl alcohol, 2-phenylpropyl acetate, and coumarin). A further 24 compounds that have not been previously found in cinnamon oils were tentatively identified and included ten monoterpenes (myrcene, cis-ocimene, trans-ocimene, fenchone, trans-linalool oxide furanoid form, linalyl acetate, bornyl acetate, borneol, geraniol, and geranyl acetate), three sesquiterpenes (Pselanene, y-cadenene, and farnesol), two aliphatic compounds (hexanol and nonanal), and nine aromatic compounds (2-phenylacetaldehyde, 2-phenylethyl acetate, benzyl alcohol, phenol, methyleugenol, methylisoeugenol, 2 -vinylphenol, vanillin, and 2-phenylethyl benzoate). Final identification of these volatiles awaits mass spectral analysis.Most compounds were found in all three oils but the composition of the oils was quite different. The major component in leaf oil was eugenol (-70%) with caryophyllene, linalool, and benzyl benzoate also of some quantitative importance. Cinnamaldehyde (75%) was the major component in stem bark oil with a contribution also from cinnamyl acetate and caryophyllene, while camphor (56%) was the major component of root bark oil with cineole, cu-terpineol, a-pinene, and limonene also of importance.

Turfgrass (Cynodon dactylon L.) sod production on sandy soils: I. Effects of irrigation and fertiliser regimes on growth and quality

“…Similarly, total N of the turfgrass in the roll was measured after coarse grinding the lysimeter roll (without soil) from each crop, and then further grinding a subsample using the ball grinder before analysis using the CHN analyser. The concentration of other macronutrients for the combined clippings from Crop 4 were measured by digesting the ground clippings in HNO 3 /HClO 4 and analysing for K, Ca and Mg using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS; AAnalyst 3000, Perkin Elmer, MA, USA) (Prasad and Spiers, 1978), and for P ( van Veldhoven and Mannaerts, 1987) and S (Rayment and Higginson, 1992) using colorimetric methods and a spectrophotometer (Shimadzu UV-1601, Shimadzu Corporation, Kyoto, Japan). Plant tissue nutrient concentrations were validated against plant tissue standards analysed using the same procedures.…”

Trace metal content in sediment cores and seagrass biomass from a tropical southwest Pacific Island

“…The method used for analysis of plant tissues was described by Prasad and Spiers (1978), and involved dry ashing the plant samples (1 g) for 4 h at 475 • C, then grinding to a powder. Dried plant materials were digested with hydrochloric acid (5 ml) and gently heated for approximately 20 min.…”

Evaluation of nutrient uptake of selected cover crops and biochar on the yield advantage of two taro (Colocasia esculenta) cultivars in Samoa

“…Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were determined after Kjeldahl digestion method for plant samples as described by Blakemore et al (1987) and Daly et al (1984). Determination of N was done by steam distillation, P by molybdovanadophosphoric acid (IBSNAT, 1987), and K, Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe, Mn, and Cu by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (Chapman and Prat, 1961;Prasad and Spiers, 1978). Nutrient contents were calculated as the product of dry matter content and tissue nutrient concentration.…”