Determination of both jasmonic acid and methyl jasmonate in plant samples by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

An efficient method for the simultaneous extraction and quantification of both jasmonic acid (JA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) from a single plant sample was developed. Plant tissues were firstly extracted by using 100% cold methanol, then the Sep-pak C(18) solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridges were adopted for the purification of sample extract, and finally JA and MeJA were determined by the liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) system. It was found that the accuracy was improved by using the extra standard for the estimation and correction of JA and MeJA losses in the extraction and purification process. The detection limits for JA and MeJA were 0.03 and 0.075 ng mL(-1), respectively, and the average recovery rate of JA and MeJA was 92.48% and 94.30%. The method was found to be reproducible and selective, yielding well isolated and easily detectable peaks for both JA and MeJA and simplifying the time-consuming extraction and purification. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system was employed as the control detection method for the LC-MS-MS system. The two systems were compared in their specificity and accuracy.