A simple, inexpensive, high pressure liquid chromatographic method for separating cytokinins in plant extracts.

Separation of a mixture of the main cytokinins occurring naturally in plant tissues was achieved by high pressure liquid chromatography using insoluble polyvinylpyrrolidone as the solid support. The separation of each cytokinin was first assessed over a range of salt and l-butanol concentrations and pH using a mixture of borate buffer and l-butanol as the mobile phase to determine the conditions necessary for optimum resolution. A discrete separation of zeatin, N-6-(Delta-2-isopentenyl)adenine, their related ribonucleosides, and kinetin was achieved using a simple isocratic elution with 0.025 m borate buffer at pH 6.8 and 4% (v/v) l-butanol. A number of cytokinin-active compounds were detected in cabbage extracts by the Amaranthus betacyanin bioassay using this separation technique.