Rapid clean-up strategy based on molecularly imprinted polymers for the determination of 3-Indoleacetic acid in plant extracts

Indole-3-acetic acid (3-IAA) is a natural auxin that plays a major role in plants development, growth and also in active defenses from plant pathogens. The quantitation of 3-IAA in plant extracts is very challenging due to extreme complexity of the matrix and to the low concentrations of this analyte. Here, a novel clean-up strategy for purification and preconcentration of 3-IAA from plants, healthy or artificially inoculated with phytopathogenic bacteria, is reported. This innovative method makes use of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for the sample preparation stage, using 3-IAA as template.