Development and optimization of a method for the analysis of low-molecular-mass organic acids in plants by capillary electrophoresis with indirect UV detection

Capillary zone electrophoresis was developed to analyze low-molecular-mass organic acids including oxalic, tartaric, formic, malic, citric, succinic, glutaric, acetic and lactic acid. The influences of some crucial parameters such as buffer concentration, pH value, surfactant concentration and separation temperature, on electrophoretic separation were investigated. Under the conditions of 15 mM phthalate containing 0.6 mM tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide as the run buffer (pH 5.6); separation voltage −15 kV (−263.2 V/cm) and temperature 25 °C, a satisfactory separation of nine organic acids was accomplished within 7 min. The detection limits (S/N=3) ranged from 0.008 to 0.08 μg/ml and the quantification limits ranged from 0.01 to 0.1 μg/ml for electrokinetic injection. The method was successfully applied to analyze organic acids in different parts of Var splendens (an edible vegetable in China). The recoveries of organic acids in real samples ranged from 88 to 121%.