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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #152693
Title: PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Author
item Berhow, Mark
item Vaughn, Steven
item Duval, Sandra
item Cantrell, Charles

Submitted to: Phytochemical Society of North America Meeting and Newsletter
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/13/2003
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Advances in chromatography separation media, solvent delivery mechanisms, microprocessor driven hardware, computer software, and chemical detectors have combined to usher in a new era of phytochemical analysis. Technological advances have given rise to bench-top gas and liquid chromatography systems-combined with photodiode array, light scattering, and mass spectra detectors-which make the separation, analysis, identification and quantitation of chemical species in extracts prepared from plant and animal tissues fast and accurate. Simple and robust methods developed for these systems have been developed for the identification and quantitation of most secondary metabolites, such as the phenolics, terpenoids, alkaloids, glucosinolates. However, pitfalls include subtle problems with quantitation and interpretation of the non-light absorbing detectors and the lack of availability of pure phytochemicals for standards and biological evaluation. These general methods will be discussed with a number of examples, especially relating these analytical procedures to biological activity and the development of new functional agricultural products for agricultural pest control and human nutrition.