Chlorophyll (Chl) a and Chl b absorbances were determined in extracts from leaves of Citrus aurantium L. using the solvents diethyl ether (100 %), buffered 80 % aqueous acetone, and N,N'-dimethyl formamide (DMF) (99.83 %). The respective standard deviations (σ) and coefficients of variability (CV) were used to establish the errors obtained when using impure solvents. Buffered 80 % aqueous acetone gave an error of 2.1 % for Chl a and 7.1 % for Chl b, while DMF gave errors of 3.5 and 6.7 %, respectively. For current Chl determination we propose a non-abrasive method, which extracts 15 leaf discs (diameter 6 mm) with 10 cm3 of buffered 80 % aqueous acetone or DMF in hermetically sealed flasks during 24 h in darkness at 4 °C. and A. L. García, N. Nicolás.