Chromatographic Determination of Rubber in Plant Latexes

Partition chromatography on paper makes possible the separation of rubber hydrocarbon from latex. This method offers a means which is both simple and rapid for determining the presence of rubber in plant latexes and for the subsequent estimation of its percentage in a given latex. The method also gives a fraction which is composed of the nonrubber components. In addition to this, the method makes possible a comparison of the partition coefficients of rubber hydrocarbon isolated from latexes of different plants. Experiments are now in progress, the purpose of which is the application of the chromatographic method to the rapid determination of plant rubbers. By its simplicity, this method unquestionably has certain advantages in the identification of rubber in any particular flora and in studies of this hydrocarbon in its various phases of the biological cycle of the plant.