RAPID AND SENSITIVE METHOD TO QUANTIFY MULTIPLE PHYTOHORMONES IN A CRUDE EXTRACT BY COUPLING OF THE ACIDIC POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE ASSAY WITH THE PHYTOHORMONE SCREENING.

Phytohormones regulate various physiological processes in plants such as growth and development and response to external stimulus. Developing a high-throughput and comprehensive method for the determination of hormones is challenging as these phytohormones have different chemistry and are present in very less quantities in plant tissues. HPLC and LC-MS with multiple reaction monitoring was used to quantify multiple phytohormones. The sensitivity and the specificity of the procedure was enhanced by coupling phytohormone screening using HPLC-MS with acidic potassium permanganate chemiluminescence assay. The aim of the study was to develop a rapid, sensitive method to detect multiple hormones in crude extracts and broaden the use of acidic potassium permanganate for industrial applications to realize the potential of phytohormones in crop treatment. This study also aims to identify the chemiluminescence assay as a complementary method to chemical fingerprinting generated by conventional chromatography using UV-visible and mass spectrometric detection.