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Abstract Background and aims Determination of sodium (Na), potassium (K), and chloride (Cl) content in plant tissue is required for research related to salinity resistance in plants. Standard methods are available to extract these elements from dried plant material, but these methods are often costly, relatively dangerous, or time consuming. Many authors modify extraction methods substantially without proof of comparability across methods. Methods Here, dried tissues of two varieties of rice and three varieties of sweet potato subjected to salt stress were extracted for Na and K using six different extraction methods (1–6) and for Cl using three Cl‐free extraction methods (2, 4, 5) for Cl: (1) the VDLUFA standard method, consisting of ashing, and heat extraction in hydrochloric acid (HCl), (2) hot water pressure extraction via autoclave, (3) extraction with 1 M HCl overnight, (4) hot water extraction at 90°C for 1 h, (5) acetic acid extraction in hot 1 M acetic acid for 2 h, and (6) extraction with a microwave using nitric acid. Na and K were determined via flame photometer and Cl via automated flow analysis. Results Na and K concentrations varied little among different extraction methods as compared to the VDLUFA standard method, and for Cl, all extractions resulted in similar tissue Cl concentrations. Conclusions Ultimately, the choice of extraction method depends on the instrumentation and lab equipment necessary, available budget, the available amount of sample, and time constraints which should be decided according to the experiment. For reasons of comparability among publications, methods applied should be clearly described since results vary depending on the method chosen.
Asch et al. (Fri,) studied this question.