Measurements of phytol in estuarine suspended organic matter

The unsaturated isoprenoid alcohol phytol is a constituent of the major chlorophyll species a and b and, as such, should be useful as an estimator for chlorophyll values. A method for the extraction of phytol from estuarine suspended organic matter and analysis by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) is described. Comparisons of the GLC method for phytol-chlorophyll analyses and a spectrophotometric chlorophyll method indicate that the GLC method gives values in good agreement with the spectrophotometric procedure. Similar trends in suspended chlorophyll values were observed in Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island, USA) water samples using the GLC method and a fluorometric procedure. The results of these studies indicate that the GLC method provides reliable analyses of chlorophyll and, although more time-consuming, has the advantage that other organic species can be analyzed in the same sample, thus providing additional information on its chemical composition.