Development of new quantitative and qualitative methodologies by NMR for analysis of milk thistle extracts, dietary supplements and phytoconstituents

• Grant number: 12/11841-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: February 01, 2013
• End date: July 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Analytical Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Alberto Colnago
• Grantee: Maiara da Silva Santos
• Supervisor: Guido F. Pauli
• Host Institution: Embrapa Instrumentação Agropecuária. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA). Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (Brasil). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 11/18032-0 - Development and validation of quantitative NMR methods for drugs, agrochemicals and olive oils analyses, BP.DR

Abstract

The importance of medicinal plants and its use for industrial purposes are increasing. These plants are used as herbal drugs, raw materials for the production of phytomedicines, or as a source for the isolation of pure substances and represent an area in progress. However, the lack of well established legislation has allowed the use of these products without any control. This uncontrolled situation has resulted in several types of problems related to quality. The parameter "quality" is very complex when it works with plant species and therefore is a major challenge for industries that work with herbal medicines. A new approach called metabolic profile has been used to aid in this type of control, which uses the fingerprint of the species under study. In this context, the NMR has proved a useful analytical tool, since it has the ability to provide simultaneously both qualitative and quantitative information, even in complex samples, such as extracts of plants. Thus, considering the need for quality control of herbal products and the potential of NMR spectroscopy, this project becomes relevant, since the methodology to be studied and developed for the Milk Thistle plant during the internship, will be able to be applied in Brazil for qualitative and quantitative analyses of phytomedicines from different plants, and will can be employed in studies of other types of complex matrices. (AU)