Quantification of trans-1,4-polyisoprene in Eucommia ulmoides by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Commercial development of trans-1,4-polyisoprene from Eucommia ulmoides Oliver (EU-rubber) requires specific knowledge on selection of high-rubber-content lines and establishment of agronomic cultivation methods for achieving maximum EU-rubber yield. The development can be facilitated by high-throughput and highly sensitive analytical techniques for EU-rubber extraction and quantification. In this paper, we described an efficient EU-rubber extraction method, and validated that the accuracy was equivalent to that of the conventional Soxhlet extraction method. We also described a highly sensitive quantification method for EU-rubber by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (PyGC/MS). We successfully applied the extraction/quantification method for study of seasonal changes in EU-rubber content and molecular weight distribution.