title: Quantification of cyanamide contents in herbaceous plants.
abstract: Cyanamide (NH2CN) is found in nature, although it has long been recognized as an industrial product. Distribution of cyanamide in the plant kingdom was investigated using a direct quantitative determination method to detect and measure cyanamide by stable isotope dilution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (the SID-GC-MS method). The SID-GC-MS method proved to be a robust way to quantify cyanamide contents in the extracts of 101 species of herbaceous plants. The average recovery of cyanamide from all plants tested was 55.6+/-20.3%. Vicia villosa and V. cracca contained cyanamide at 369-498 microg/gFW and 3,460-3,579 microg/gFW respectively, while the other 99 species contained no detectable cyanamide (<1 microg/gFW). This result suggests that distribution of cyanamide in the plant kingdom is limited and uneven.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Shinshu University, Kami-ina, Nagano, Japan. kamo274@shinshu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tsunashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kamo
authors.forename: Masae
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Syuntaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hiradate
authors.forename: Eri
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirota
mesh_terms: D003484:Cyanamide / Q000032:analysis*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D010944:Plants / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D003484:Cyanamide