Development of an Ultrahigh-Performance Liquid Chromatography−Electrospray Ionization−Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method for the Simultaneous Determination of Salicylic Acid, Jasmonic Acid and Abscisic Acid in Rose Leaves

This paper describes a method to detect and quantitate the endogenous plant hormones (±)-2-cis-4-trans-abscisic acid, (-)-jasmonic acid and salicylic acid by means of ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) in hybrid rose leaf matrices. Deuterium-labeled [(2)H6] (+)-2-cis-4-trans-abscisic acid, [(2)H6] (±)-jasmonic acid, and [(2)H4]-salicylic acid were used as internal standards. Rose samples (10 mg) were extracted with methanol/water/acetic acid (10:89:1) and subsequently purified on an Oasis MCX 1cc Vac SPE Cartridge. Performance characteristics were validated according to Commission Decision 2002/657/EC.(28) Recovery, repeatability and within-laboratory reproducibility were acceptable for all phytohormones tested at three different concentrations. The decision limit and detection capability for (±)-2-cis-4-trans-abscisic acid, (-)-jasmonic acid and salicylic acid were 0.0075 µg/g and 0.015 µg/g, 0.00015 µg/g and 0.00030 µg/g and 0.0089 µg/g and 0.018 µg/g, respectively. Matrix effects (signal suppression or enhancement) appeared to be high for all substances considered implying the need for quantitation based on matrix-matched calibration curves.