ANALYSIS OF CINNAMIC-ACIDS IN RICE (ORYZA-SATIVA) BY SIMULTANEOUS PYROLYSIS METHYLATION GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY

Cinnamic acids in rice (Oryza sativa L.) were studied by pyrolysis der ivatisation using tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH), a thermally as sisted hydrolysis and methylation method. Pyrolyses of the koshihikari leaf-sheath fraction harvested at the full ripe stage and its dioxane lignin produced 4-methoxycinnamic acid methyl ester and 3,4-dimethoxy cinnamic acid methyl ester as the main products in the presence of TMA H; 3,4,5-trimethoxycinnamic acid methyl ester was absent. In the absen ce of TMAH, the koshihikari samples yielded no cinnamic acids in pyrol ysis. The other rice samples also showed similar results. These findin gs suggest that this method is effective to analyze cinnamic acids in plants, although the quantitative evaluation of cinnamic acids remains .