Articles
DEVELOPMENT OF THE UV SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC METHOD FOR THE ANALYSIS OF TOTAL PYRETHRINS IN PYRETHRUM FLOWERS
Article number
1073_26
Pages
191 – 196
Language
English
Abstract
The first UV spectrophotometric method of analysis of pyrethrins in dried pyrethrum flowers is described.
It was developed in the late 1940s by V.A. Beckley in Nairobi and was used as a basis for the payment of growers deliveries and plant selection in breeding programmes.
The method used Soxhlet extraction of the pyrethrins from the ground flowers with a light petroleum solvent and was operated with a throughput of 40 single samples a day.
Modifications to the method, carried out in the laboratories of the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya in the 1960s, allowed a throughput of 100 samples a day in duplicate.
The increase was achieved by replacing the Soxhlet extraction step by agitation with light petroleum at room temperature, coupled with the elimination of filtration and the introduction of a simplified dilution step.
The revised method is described and calibration techniques discussed.
It was developed in the late 1940s by V.A. Beckley in Nairobi and was used as a basis for the payment of growers deliveries and plant selection in breeding programmes.
The method used Soxhlet extraction of the pyrethrins from the ground flowers with a light petroleum solvent and was operated with a throughput of 40 single samples a day.
Modifications to the method, carried out in the laboratories of the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya in the 1960s, allowed a throughput of 100 samples a day in duplicate.
The increase was achieved by replacing the Soxhlet extraction step by agitation with light petroleum at room temperature, coupled with the elimination of filtration and the introduction of a simplified dilution step.
The revised method is described and calibration techniques discussed.
Authors
S. Head
Keywords
Tanacetum cinerariaefolium pyrethrins, pyrethrum flowers, UV analysis
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