Non-equilibrium ultrasound-assisted solid–liquid extraction of boron present in different phases within plants by ICP-OES

Abstract

A non-equilibrium ultrasound-assisted solid–liquid extraction method was developed for the separation of boron (B) in different forms (water-soluble B in the sap and structural B in the cells) in plant and phyto food samples. The factors influencing separation efficiency of the proposed method were investigated. The results showed that the method could be successfully applied to the separation of water-soluble and structural B within plant samples. The linear range of the method was in the range of 5–100 mg kg⁻¹ for different plant and phyto food samples. The limit of detection was 2 mg kg⁻¹ with a correlation coefficient of 0.998, and a relative standard deviation of 2.3%. This method has the advantage of only requiring a single plant sample for combined analysis of water-soluble and structural B. The B mass distribution of the two phases in different tissues obtained by the method is valuable for the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms in uptake of B in plants and phyto foods.