Separation of phenolic aldehydes, ketones and acids from lignin degradation by capillary zone electrophoresis

A Review of Analytical Methods for p-Coumaric Acid in Plant-Based Products, Beverages, and Biological Matrices

p-Coumaric acid (p-CA), also known as 4-hydroxycinnamic acid, is a phenolic acid, which has been widely studied due to its beneficial effects against several diseases and its wide distribution in the plant kingdom. This phenolic compound can be found in the free form or conjugated with other molecules; therefore, its bioavailability and the pathways via which it is metabolized change according to its chemical structure. p-CA has potential pharmacological effects because it has high free radical scavenging, anti-inflammatory, antineoplastic, and antimicrobial activities, among other biological properties. It is therefore essential to choose the most appropriate and effective analytical method for qualitative and quantitative determination of p-CA in different matrices, such as plasma, urine, plant extracts, and drug delivery systems. The most-reported analytical method for this purpose is high-performance liquid chromatography, which is mostly coupled with some type of detectors, such as UV/Vis detector. However, other analytical techniques are also used to evaluate this compound. This review presents a summary of p-CA in terms of its chemical and pharmacokinetic properties, pharmacological effects, drug delivery systems, and the analytical methods described in the literature that are suitable for its quantification.

Fungal degradation of lignocellulosic residues: an aspect of improved nutritive quality

Microbial degradation of lignocellulosic materials brings a variety of changes in their bio-physicochemical properties. Lower digestibility of various agricultural residues can be enhanced by microbial treatment. White rot fungi are the potential candidates, which can improve the nutritional quality of lignocellulosic residues by degrading lignin and converting complex polysaccharides into simple sugars. Changes in physical qualities of lignocellulosics that is texture, colour and aroma have been an interesting area of study along with chemical properties. Degradation of lignocellulose not only upgrades the quality of degraded biomass, but helps simultaneous production of different commercial enzymes and other by products of interest. The review is focused on fungal degradation of lignocellulosics, resultant changes in physicochemical properties and nutritional value.

Solid-phase extraction and capillary electrophoresis determination of phenols from soil after alkaline CuO oxidation

Alkaline CuO oxidation has been used on molecular-level analyses of phenols from organic matter in the last decades. This method, originally developed by Hedges and Ertel [Hedges, J.I., Ertel, J.R., 1982. Characterization of lignin by gas capillary chromatography of cupric oxide oxidation products. Anal. Chem. 54, 174-178] has several drawbacks that have limited is wider utilization. In this paper, we propose a modification of the method using a solid-phase extraction (SPE) instead of a liquid-liquid extraction. The SPE procedure using C18 cartridges was optimized to obtain high recoveries. The sequential elution with acetonitrile and methanol was found to be the most appropriate procedure. Recoveries of the 12 phenols in individual standard solutions ranged from 84% to 113% with relative standard deviation (RSD) lower than 12%. Experiments with a mixed standard solution highlighted the competition between the different phenols for the adsorbing sites. Recoveries decreased with polarity, reaching 30% for p-hydroxybenzoic acid when present at a concentration of 2.5 x 10(-3)M. A sample soil subjected to a CuO oxidation was used to test the reproducibility of the SPE method and good results were achieved, RSD ranged between 0.4% and 28.3%. The performance of the CE method was also evaluated by correlation coefficients (higher than 0.9920), linearity (higher than 99.902%) and limit of detection (ranging from 2.64 x 10(-6) to 1.25 x 10(-5)M). SPE procedure presents several advantages such as fast sample preparation, good recoveries, good accuracy, low sample handling and safety improvement due to reduced solvent/sample exposure and glassware management.

Extraction of polyphenols from vine shoots of Vitis vinifera by superheated ethanol-water mixtures

A study of the nonvolatile fraction of extracts from vine shoots obtained by superheated ethanol-water mixtures is presented. The influence of the temperature, extraction time, and percentage of ethanol on extraction was investigated by a multivariate experimental design to maximize the yield of total phenolic compounds, measured by using the Folin-Ciocalteu method. The best values found for these variables were 80% (v/v) ethanol, 240 degrees C, and 60 min. Under these conditions, the effect of pH was also investigated, and a strong improvement of yield was observed by decreasing the pH. The extracts were subject to liquid-liquid extraction with n-hexane. The remaining polar phase was dried in a rotary evaporator and then reconstituted in 10 mL of water. The insoluble residue was dissolved in 10 mL of methanol. Both fractions (aqueous and methanolic) were analyzed by HPLC, and the differences in composition according to the extraction conditions were studied. Compounds usually present in commercial wood extracts were identified (mainly benzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids and aldehydes); the most abundant were quantified, and the stability of the identified phenolic families under different extraction conditions was also investigated. Finally, the superiority of the superheated liquid extraction over conventional solid-liquid extraction was demonstrated.

Analytical determination of polyphenols in olive oils

The increasing popularity of olive oil is mainly attributed to its high content of oleic acid, which may affect the plasma lipid/lipoprotein profiles, and its richness in phenolic compounds, which act as natural antioxidants and may contribute to the prevention of human disease. An overview of analytical methods for the measurement of polyphenols in olive oil is presented. In principle, the analytical procedure for the determination of individual phenolic compounds in virgin olive oil involves three basic steps: extraction from the oil sample, analytical separation, and quantification. A great number of procedures for the isolation of the polar phenolic fraction of virgin olive oil, utilizing two basic extraction techniques, LLE or SPE, have been included. The reviewed techniques are those based on spectrophotometric methods, as well as analytical separation (gas chromatography (GC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and capillary electrophoresis (CE)). Many reports in the literature determine the total amount of phenolic compounds in olive oils by spectrophometric analysis and characterize their phenolic patterns by capillary gas chromatography (CGC) and, mainly, by reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC); however, CE has recently been applied to the analysis of phenolic compound of olive oil and has opened up great expectations, especially because of the higher resolution, reduced sample volume, and analysis duration. CE might represent a good compromise between analysis time and satisfactory characterization for some classes of phenolic compounds of virgin olive oils.

Chemiluminescence determination of pharmacologically active compounds by capillary electrophoresis

A simple and rapid capillary electrophoresis with direct chemiluminescence method has been developed for the determination of five natural pharmacologically active compounds including rutin, protocatechuic aldehyde, chlorogenic acid, luteolin and protocatechuic acid. The luminol as a component of the separation electrolyte buffer was introduced at the head of the separation capillary. The separation of five compounds was carried out in a fused-silica capillary with 15.0 mmol/L tetraborate, 1.0 mmol/L SDS and 0.42 mmol/L luminol (pH 8.5). The analytes was determined by enhancing the chemiluminescence of luminol with 0.13 mmol/L K3Fe(CN)6 in 0.05 mol/L NaOH, which was introduced at the post-column stage. The voltage applied was 16 kV. Under the optimum conditions, the analytes were separated within 10 min. The excellent linearity was obtained over two to three orders of magnitude with a detection limit (signal:noise = 3) of 0.012-0.055 micromol/L for all five analytes. The method was successfully used in the analysis of pharmaceutical and biological samples, and the assay results were satisfactory.

Inhibition of ethanol-producing yeast and bacteria by degradation products produced during pre-treatment of biomass

An overview of the different inhibitors formed by pre-treatment of lignocellulosic materials and their inhibition of ethanol production in yeast and bacteria is given. Different high temperature physical pre-treatment methods are available to render the carbohydrates in lignocellulose accessible for ethanol fermentation. The resulting hydrolyzsates contain substances inhibitory to fermentation-depending on both the raw material (biomass) and the pre-treatment applied. An overview of the inhibitory effect on ethanol production by yeast and bacteria is presented. Apart from furans formed by sugar degradation, phenol monomers from lignin degradation are important co-factors in hydrolysate inhibition, and inhibitory effects of these aromatic compounds on different ethanol producing microorganisms is reviewed. The furans and phenols generally inhibited growth and ethanol production rate (Q(EtOH)) but not the ethanol yields (Y(EtOH)) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Within the same phenol functional group (aldehyde, ketone, and acid) the inhibition of volumetric ethanol productivity was found to depend on the amount of methoxyl substituents and hence hydrophobicity (log P). Many pentose-utilizing strains Escherichia coli, Pichia stipititis, and Zymomonas mobilis produce ethanol in concentrated hemicellulose liquors but detoxification by overliming is needed. Thermoanaerobacter mathranii A3M3 can grow on pentoses and produce ethanol in hydrolysate without any need for detoxification.

Fast separation and determination of tyrosol, hydroxytyrosol and other phenolic compounds in extra-virgin olive oil by capillary zone electrophoresis with ultraviolet-diode array detection

Olive oil is the main source of fat in the Mediterranean diet, and its consumption has been related to a low incidence of coronary heart disease and certain cancers. Recent findings demonstrate that olive oil phenolics are powerful in vitro and in vivo antioxidants and display other biological activities that could partially account for the observed healthful effects of the Mediterranean diet. A detailed method optimization plan was carried out to separate the most popular phenols in olive oil for four separation parameters: buffer concentration, buffer pH, applied voltage and temperature. Consequently, an analytical method capable of separating 21 different phenols and polyphenols by capillary zone electrophoresis was developed; the separation was performed within 10 min, using a 40 cm x 50 microm capillary, with a 45 mM sodium tetraborate buffer (pH 9.60), at 27 kV and 30 degrees C. The optimized method was applied to methanolic extracts of several Italian extra-virgin olive oils obtained by different technologies in order to characterize and to compare their antioxidant profile. Positive correlations of phenolic compounds found by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and two colorimetric indexes (total polyphenols and o-diphenols) were found and discussed.

Separation and identification of photodegradation products of benzoic acid by capillary zone electrophoresis

A capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method was developed for separation and identification of photodegradation products of benzoic acid under irradiation at a wavelength of 300 nm. Parameters such as run buffer, applied voltage and injection time were optimized for the separation of benzoic acid and its photodegradation products. Linearity, limit of detection, and repeatability of migration time as well as peak area of the method were examined. Four reaction products, including salicylic acid, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid have been separated and identified by spiking the known compounds into the irradiated samples using the CZE method developed. The confirmation of the reaction products is one of the key steps for proposing the possible reaction mechanisms involved in the photodegradation of benzoic acid.

Capillary zone electrophoresis of natural organic matter

This paper presents an in-depth look at the use of capillary electrophoretic (CE) techniques for the fingerprinting and characterization of humic substances and natural organic matter. These materials are highly heterogeneous in structure and show all characteristics of mixtures unliked in analytical chemistry. The electrophoretic approach, however, allows the determination of mobility distributions in different solution conditions, representative of the effective charge and size distribution status of the components present. A tabulated review covers over 50 references on the subject and highlights the possibilities and problems encountered in the analysis of such polydisperse materials with CE methods. In a second part of the article the consequences of experimental and buffer parameters on the behavior of humic materials in CE are presented.

Separation and identification of aromatic acids in soil and the Everglades sediment samples using solid-phase microextraction followed by capillary zone electrophoresis

The separation and identification of aromatic acids in soil and the Everglades sediment samples was carried out using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) followed by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). The soil and sediment samples were subject to a series of sample treatments including oxidative hydrolysis with molecular oxygen in a sodium hydroxide solution, acidification and filtration. The aromatic acids in the sample filtrate were extracted using SPME with a polyacrylate-coated fiber. The acids adsorbed on the fiber were subsequently desorbed in methanol. The desorbed acids were then separated by CZE. Several aromatic acids (e.g.. salicylic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid and vanillic acid) in both soil and sediment samples were separated, identified and quantified. The results of this study show that the combination of SPME with CZE is promising for environmental analysis.

Capillary zone electrophoresis of syringyl and guaiacyl monomers resulting from lignin thioacidolysis

A capillary zone electrophoretic method has been developed for the quantitative determination of syringyl (S) and guaiacyl (G) monomers resulting from lignin thioacidolysis. The effects on the separation of altering a number of parameters have been investigated, resulting in an efficient and rapid separation. Analysis times were about 10 min instead of 50 min for the conventional GC methods, with no requirement for a derivatisation step prior to analysis. Relative standard deviations ranged between 8 and 12% for the absolute determination of S and G monomers, and between 1.4 and 3.5% for the S/G ratio.

Separation of phenolic compounds by high-performance liquid chromatography with absorbance and fluorimetric detection

Phenolic compounds including phenolic aldehydes, acids and flavonoids are separated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with analysis time shorter than described in the literature. The use of a fluorescence detector in series with absorbance detector allowed increasing selectivity and sensitivity for the determination of catechin, vanillic acid, syringic acid, epicatechin and trans-resveratrol in wine samples. An optimised sample preparation method using liquid-liquid extraction with diethyl ether at pH 2.0 was used. The optimised method was applied to analyse wine samples with good results.

Optimization of the separation of phenolic compounds by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

A group of phenolic compounds including phenolic aldehydes, acids and flavonoids are separated by micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MECC). The influence of buffer (concentration and pH), concentration of sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS) and applied voltage were studied. To increase the selectivity of the separation and the resolution of the solutes organic solvents are added to the separation buffer, the best results were obtained when methanol was used at lower percentages. An optimized buffer (150 mM boric acid (pH 8.5)-50 mM SDS-5% methanol) provides the optimum separation with regard to resolution and migration time. This method was applied to the determination of these compounds in wine samples with good results.