Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) has been implicated as a regulating agent in numerous plant-growth phenomena. In an attempt to assess its role in plants, identification and quantification are necessary. Estimating the amount of IAA in plant samples is difficult because this molecule degrades rapidly during most extraction-purification systems. A method is presented which reduces IAA degradation to a minimum by drying the sample at about 10-5 torr of oxygen and subsequently extracting with anhydrous solvent. A review of earlier methods is included.
