Low-temperature thin-layer chromatography preliminary bioautographic tests for detection of free radical scavengers and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors in volatile samples

Abstract

The aim of the presented study was to develop a simple, high-throughput analytical procedure to indicate volatile samples (essential oils and natural aromas commonly used in pharmaceutical and food industry), as well as individual compounds/group of compounds possessing free radical scavenging and/or acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity (one or both of the aforementioned properties). First, simple “dot-blot” tests were proposed to pinpoint the samples with the aforementioned activities. Some of those which gave positive results were passed to further analyses by means of low-temperature thin-layer chromatography (TLC). The comparison of the results obtained on different adsorbents led to a conclusion that TLC-AChE inhibition diazotization test should be performed on plates with polar coatings. The hypothesis for the observed weak AChE inhibitory activity on RP-18W plates, when compared to other adsorbents, is also proposed for further verification. The application of these procedures revealed t...