Voltammetric determination of plant growth stimulants based on organic acids

Abstract

In this article, a method describes voltammetric determination of substances based on organic acids that are frequently main components of synthetic growth stimulants for plants. The most frequently used stimulants containing a mixture of two electroactive substances, namely 2-aminobenzoic acid (anthranilic acid) and 2-hydroxybenzoic acid (salicylic acid), were analyzed using linear sweep voltammetry in combination with a boron-doped diamond electrode in aqueous–alcoholic neutral medium of phosphate buffer at pH 7.0, where analytes exhibit the largest difference in the E1/2 values, namely 935 mV for anthranilic acid and 1240 mV for salicylic acid, which provides a precondition for successful determination of their mixtures. Further, a mathematical algorithm has been suggested for evaluation of non-linear relationships of the peak current on concentration of acids. The procedure is applicable to practical samples of plant stimulants such as Sunagreen, Hergit, Paban, and others. The developed method will serve as production check of plant stimulants containing anthranilic acid and salicylic acid.