A Colorimetric Method for Measuring Iron Content in Plants

Just medically it can help answer a key question in biology field. Such as how can we easily quantify iron in biology core samples. The main venture of this technique is that it’s a easy to produce, and a very precise colorimetric technique.

While preferring this technique, you should avoid iron contamination. Visual demonstration of this method will help you to understand its different steps. To begin this procedure, prepare five centimeter by five centimeter pots by filling them with standard pot medium.

Plant one tobacco seed in each pot. Transfer the plants to a growth room that is at a constant temperature, under long day conditions of 23 degrees Celsius. Irrigate with tap water until water drains from the pot, and grow the plants for approximately 50 days.

After this time, start iron treatments in the irrigation at concentrations appropriate for the experiment. Irrigate the plants with this solution every two days for six to eight days. Then, detach the leaves from the stem by hand, making sure not to use any metal equipment.

Using a spray bottle filled with double distilled water, clean each leaf. Dry the leaves on a paper towel, and then transfer them into a paper bag. Place the leaf filled bags in an oven, set to a constant temperature of 80 degrees Celsius, for two to three days.

Clean the mortar and pestle twice, with a 4%hydrochloric acid solution. And use a filter paper to dry. Using the mortar and pestle, crush the dry leaves to a powder.

Then, transfer the powder to sterile 15 milliliter plastic tubes. First, weigh a new, sealed 20 milliliter scintillation vial without its lid. Either note the weight or tare the scale.

Then add the crushed leaves. Weigh the sample in the vial, and note the weight. Use rock wool to close the vial.

Weigh three additional vials without adding samples, for use as controls, making note of each weight. Next, transfer the sample and control vials to a furnace. Burn the leaves as outlined in the text protocol.

After this, let the samples cool to approximately 100 degrees Celsius. Using heavy gloves and tweezers, remove the samples from the furnace, making sure to hold the vial exteriorly. Place the vials on a flat surface.

Remove the rock wool, and close the vials with their original lids. Then, weigh the three control vials, and calculate their average weight gain. If the weight gain is equal to or above 1%of the ash weight, use this value as an estimate of the measurement error.

Weigh a 15 milliliter plastic tube. Either record the weight or tare the scale. Then transfer the ashes to the tube.

Record this value, which is the ash weight. Next, add five milliliters of the one molar hydrochloric acid solution to the ashes. Filter the ashes through a 22 micrometer filter.

Then add an additional five milliliters of the one molar hydrochloric acid solution through the same filter, leading to a final sample volume of 10 milliliters. After this, remove four milliliters from each sample for measurement by atomic spectroscopy. And determine the iron concentration per gram of ash as outlined in the text protocol.

To begin, add four grams of potassium ferrocyanide to 100 milliliters of double distilled water, to prepare the Prussian blue solution. Vortex to mix, and store at 4 degrees Celsius until ready to use. When ready to use, mix 50 milliliters of Prussian blue solution with 50 milliliters of one molar hydrochloric acid to serve as the blank solution.

Then, use a pipette to mix 0.5 milliliters of a previously obtained sample, with 0.5 milliliters of Prussian blue solution. Let this mixture rest for at least one minute, but for less than five minutes. Transfer this mixture to a cuvette, and use a spectrophotometer to measure the optical density at 715 nanometers.

Then, determine the optical density per gram of ash, and plot the linear regression between the iron concentrations, as outlined in the text protocol. The representative results from 21 tobacco leaf samples show that the iron concentration in the irrigation water greatly affected the iron content in the leaf. The spectra of all 21 representative samples are then tested with the Prussian blue method.

As seen here, the absorbance at 715 nanometers is the optimal wavelength while measuring solutions containing different concentrations of iron two and iron three. A linear regression curve, which is obtained by plotting iron concentration values obtained by atomic spectroscopy, versus the absorbance values, obtained by the Prussian blue method, allows for new samples of the same plant type to be analyzed. Don’t forget that working with HCL can be extremely hazardous.

And precaution, such as eye protection, should always be taken while performing this procedure. In the linear regression, it’s important to verify that the results are in a realistic range. After its development, this technique can help biology researcher explore additional plants for food production or bioremediation.