Characterization of Leachate from Plant Foliage.

For imore than 150 years reports have appeared in the literature indicating that a wide diversity of plants can lose mineral nutrients from their leaves through the leaching action of rain, mist, and dew. With the adlvent of radioisotopes the phenomenon was conclusively dlemonstrated (4, 5, 13) and in recent years, has been the subject of several reviews (7, 9, 12). Not only are mineral nutrients leached, but also large anmounts of organic metabolites are lost from many plants. Chromatographic and electrophoretic analysis of the leachate from bean leaves (Phaseolus 7ulgaris L.) demonstrated the presence of several amino aci(ls, carbohydlrates, and organic aci(ds (11, 12). Since leaching is such a widespread natural phenomenon (12), it is of interest to characterize more conmpletely the nature of the organic fraction of plant leachates. This paper reports the results of analyses of the leachates from several plant species.