Inositol-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexakisphosphate (IP6) is a natural product of plant tissue and one of the most common natural organophosphates found in environmental systems. Overall, IP6 is highly stable under natural conditions and is generally only degraded through a select few enzymatic pathways. This abundance and stability in soil and aquatic systems makes it a largely untapped reservoir of bioavailable orthophosphate for use by organisms and plants, particularly in agriculture. The use of phytate and other organophosphates as a phosphorus source may offer an alternative to inorganic phosphate fertilizers, which have been linked to eutrophication. As such, it is important to be able to identify and quantify the amount of IP6 and its dephosphorylated congeners, IP5-1, found in media such as soil, sediment, surface water, and groundwater. In this study, we will present methodology for the isolation, identification, and quantification of IP6 and subsequent congeners that have been enzymatically dephosphorylated using wheat phytase enzymes. A novel solid phase extraction technique has been developed for the isolation of phytate from environmental media including water, soils, and sediments. Quantification of IP6 and congeners has been conducted using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and high performance liquid chromatography with UV-Vis detection (HPLC-UV). Structures of the lower order inositol phosphates found in the environmental samples, as well as those obtained by the enzymatic degradation, were characterized using 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR).

Extraction and quantification of environmental inositol phosphates using solid phase extraction and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy

255th National Meeting (2018)

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