cis-Jasmone is a plant activator in terms of production of defence-related volatile semiochemicals. The redox and quantitative analysis of cis-jasmone are practically significant for the investigation of physiological processes in plants. In this work, the electrochemical characteristics of cis-jasmone in different acid media were investigated at a multi-wall carbon nanotube/Nafion composite film modified glassy carbon electrode (MWNT/Nafion/GCE) by cyclic voltammetry, chronocoulometry and infrared spectroscopy. The redox mechanism of cis-jasmone in strong acid media, i.e., a remarkable catalytic oxidation process for the reduction product of cis-jasmone at MWNT/Nafion/GCE, was demonstrated to be completely different from the cases in weakly acidic or neutral solution. The standard rate constant k(0), the diffusion coefficient D and the surface coverage Gamma were calculated and discussed. The sensitive anodic stripping voltammetric response of cis-jasmone was employed to determine its content in the extract of rice spikelet. The electrochemical redox and quantitative analysis of cis-jasmone are therefore of great significance for studying not only the physiological processes of cis-jasmone in plants but also the electrochemical redox mechanism of other alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.