Latex quantification in guayule shrub and homogenate

Commercial development of hypoallergenic latex from Parthenium argentatum (Gray), especially for the manufacture of latex medical and household goods, requires specific knowledge on the best lines, agronomic practices and storage conditions for the generation of maximal latex yield. Development can proceed only by using standard, accurate analytical techniques for latex extraction and quantification. In this paper, we describe a latex extraction method that parallels the proposed commercial extraction process and we demonstrate that different extraction equipment can introduce large variations in the apparent amount of extractable latex. An evaluation protocol for testing and optimizing the efficiency of alternative extraction equipment is presented. Also, we describe a rapid latex quantification method for use with shrub and shrub homogenates, confirm its accuracy with tissue balance analysis and show how it can be used to quantify latex in materials with unusually low latex content. The reproducibility of the basic method and of a variation of the method, were determined by analysis of identical homogenates by researchers at different locations. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.