Soluble polyphenol concentrations of tropical leaves are believed to affect nitrogen (N) mineralization potential during decomposition. However, polyphenol concentrations reported for the same species have varied several‐fold among studies. Testing potential explanations for these discrepancies, we found high tissue‐to‐solvent ratios, as specified in one of two popular extraction procedures, led to reduced estimates. Use of aqueous methanol rather than water increased recovered polyphenols somewhat, but was not adequate to explain differences among studies. Elevated drying temperatures decreased recovery of soluble polyphenols. Folin‐Ciocalteu reagent produced less precipitate and was more reproducible than Folin‐Denis reagent.
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Constantinides et al. (1994) studied this question.
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