Separation and Identification of Bioactive Components

Separation and identification of compounds are integral parts of many research endeavors including evaluating effects of growth conditions on bioactive components, determining biosynthetic pathways, distinguishing sample origin(s), determining contamination, etc. Separation of bioactive compounds invariably employs either liquid chromatography or gas chromatography, when the analyte is non-volatile and/or does not have chromophore. Identification can be simple when the target compounds are known, but could be more involved and tedious when handling unknown compounds. For identification of unknown compounds, an “activity-guided” approach may be pursued. Identification of compound involves the use of various spectroscopic methods, typically, UV, IR, MS, and NMR. General methods and principles in separation and identification of plant products of secondary metabolism will be covered in this presentation.