Reversed-phase C-18 high-performance liquid chromatography of gibberellins GA(3) and GA(1)

Gibberellins (GAs) are a group of plant growth hormones that are involved in the regulation of shoot elongation in many crop plants and the regulation of flowering in some biennials or photoperiodic plants. A reversed-phase HPLC procedure was applied for the separation of GA(3) and GA(1) with high resolution by means of ionic suppression, without the necessity for derivatization, using UV detection in fermentation broths. The reproducibility at these chromatographic conditions showed a 2% R.S.D. for GA(3), the recovery of GA(3) was higher than 95% and the detection limit for GA(3) standard solution was ca. 50 ng. GA(3) and GA(1) concentrations were determined for different fermentation cultures of the fungus Gibberella fujikuroi. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.