Extraction flavanoids

Catechin and epicatechin are two flavanols of the catechin family. They are enantiomers. The capillary zone electrophoresis (CE) methods with UV-detection were developed for quantitative determination of this flavanols in green tea extracts. For this purpose following conditions were varied mnning buffers, pH and concentration of chiral additive (P-cyclodextrin was chosen as a chiral selector). Borate buffers improve selectivity of separation because borate can make complexes with ortho-dihydroxy groups on the flavanoid nucleus. 

Natural colours include annatto, anthocyanins, beetroot red (betalaines), caramel, carotenoids, cochineal and lac pigments, flavanoids, chlorophylls and tumeric. There is a trend towards encapsulating natural colours for food use, but this is not yet reflected in the extraction techniques described in the published analytical methods. Lancaster and Lawrence (1996) described the extraction and... 

Cronje, A. et al.. Oligomeric flavanoids. Part 16. Novel prorobinetinidins and the first A-type proanthocyanidin with a 5-deoxy A- and a 3,4-cw-C-ring from the maiden investigation of commercial wattle bark extract, J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 2467, 1993. 

To ensure lot-to-lot consistency, standardization of extracts often relies on constituents as biomarkers for plant identity and potency. SJW Hypericum perforatum), a perennial shrub traditionally used as a mood enhancer and mild antidepressant, has been tested in dozens of clinical trials, with mixed results for efficacy. Some of its purported bioactive constituents include naphthodianthrones, including hypericin flavonoids phloroglucinols, including hyperforin and essential oils. For many years, hypericin was presumed to be the active component. As a result most extracts were standardized based on hypericin concentration. Recent data, however, support other components such as hyperforin and the flavanoids, that may also contribute to the therapeutic efficacy of the SJW extracts (33-35). Because these secondary components were previously unaccounted for in the standardization of the former clinical test articles, and because these constituents are chemically unrelated to and their content within the plant varies independently of hypericin, it has been argued that the potency of these constituents in any particular batch was unlikely to be similar to that of other batches. This variability between batches could explain the observed differences in the clinical trial results (36). 

The vast literature associated with flavanoid chemistry precludes a discussion here but two valuable reviews have been published. The first reviews a number of spectroscopic techniques used for flavonoid analysis, with a strong emphasis on NMR spectroscopy (plus also mass spectrometry, vibrational spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and circular dichrosim (CD)) . The second review deals with NMR methods that have been successful in the characterization of phenolic acids and flavonoids from plant extracts that have not been separated or isolated as single components. The emphasis of the article is 2-D NMR methodology and a variety of experiments such as total correlated spectroscopy (TOCSY), COSY, nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy (NOESY) and heteronuclear multiple quantum correlation (HMQC) are discussed . 

Diastereomers of four flavinoids (naringin, pnmin, neohesperidin, narirutin) were resolved on a ) -cyclodextrin column (A = 280 nm) using a 20-min 95/5 - 50/50 (90/10/0.5 methanol/water/acetic acid)/(95/5 methanol/water) gradient [371]. Nine flavanoids [372] extracted from Ginkgo biloba leaves (quercetin, apigenin. 

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