Determination of Organic Acids in Root Exudates by High Performance Liquid Chromatography: I. Development and Assessment of Chromatographic Conditions *1

Methods for determining nine low molecular weight organic acids in root exudates were developed by using reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography with UV (ultraviolet) detection at 214 nm. The mobile phase was 18 mmol L -1 kH 2PO 4 adjusted to pH 2.25 with phosphoric acid and the flow rate was 0.3 mL min -1 . The analytical column was a reversed phase silica based C 18 column (Shim pack CLC ODS). The root exudates were collected through submerging the whole root system into aerated deionized water for 2 hours. The filtered exudate solutions were concentrated to dryness by rotary evaporation at 40 °C, dissolved in 10 mL mobile phase. The chromatographic conditions of organic acid determination were analyzed. The results showed that there was a high selectivity and sensitivity in the organic acid determination by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography. Coefficients of variation for organic acid determination were lower than 10% except lactic acid. The recoveries were consistently between 80.1% to 108.3%. Detection limits were approximately 0.05 to 4.5 mg L -1 for organic acids except succinic acid with the detection limit of 7.0 mg L -1 . Phosphorus deficiency may contribute to the release of organic acids in soybean root exudates especially malic, lactic and citric acids.