Development of a novel method for multiple phytohormone analysis by UHPLC-MS/MS from bio-enriched organic fertilizer...

Banana harvesting generates a large amount of banana pseudostem waste, which is generally burnt or thrown away, despite containing many nutrients. Bio-enriched organic fertilizer (BOF) was prepared from banana pseudostem sap (BPS), and it has been patented (Patent No. WO 2013/001478 Al). Several reports revealed that its application increases plant growth promotion of various horticulture crops. Apart from macro- and micronutrients, it also contained phytohormones. Hence, the present study aims to detect and quantify phytohormone in it. A novel method was developed to extract four phytohormones, viz., indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), gibberellic acid (GA₃), and salicylic acid (SA) using single solvent from BPS and BOF. Extracted hormones were analyzed by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with heated electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HESI-MS/MS). BOF showed a higher concentration of IAA, IBA, GA₃, and SA than BPS. Thus, this is the first time a method has been reported to extract and detect phytohormones from banana pseudostem sap.