Estimates of Solutes Accumulating in Plants by ¹H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Abstract

A method is described for the estimation of betaines and proline in plant extracts using ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance. After partial purification of the crude extract on a simple cation-exchange column the technique enables the simultaneous determination of glycinebetaine, choline and other N-methylammonium-containing compounds as well as proline. The method is simple and the results obtained compare favourably with those determined by other methods.