A Simple Extraction Method of Soluble Carbohydrates from Various Organs of Several Ornamental Plants Using a Vacuum Manifold

Abstract

A simple method using a vacuum manifold for extracting soluble carbohydrates for analysis by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) from various tissues of ornamental plants was developed. Rose ‘Sonia’ petals were immersed in ethanol solution at 75°C for 20 min. Sorbitol was added to the extraction as an internal standard, and extractions were transferred to filter holders on a vacuum manifold, and the manifold was then decompressed. The filtrate was evaporated to dryness, and used for HPLC analysis. In comparison to soluble carbohydrate extraction by conventional homogenization extraction, few differences in soluble carbohydrate content were observed. Carbohydrate content in the remaining plant tissue was confirmed to be very low, indicating that soluble carbohydrates are effectively extracted by this procedure. Few differences in soluble carbohydrate content were observed among rose stem and leaves between the new method and a conventional method. Also, few differences in soluble carbohydrate content were observed among petals or sepals, stems and leaves in carnation, Delphinium and snapdragon, using either the new or conventional method. These findings suggest that the new method, which does not require homogenization, is a very simple method for the extraction of soluble carbohydrates from various organs of several ornamental plants.