Selected latest applications of molecular spectroscopy in natural product analysis

Abstract

The field of molecular vibrational spectroscopy applied to natural products is advancing extremely fast. Traditionally applied separation techniques (LC-, μ-LC–MS, GC, CE-MS) offer the advantages of high selectivity/sensitivity, but their application for routine quality control is limited due to long analyses times. Therefore, molecular spectroscopy in combination with multivariate analysis (MVA) enjoys excellent reputation, because of the fast and non-invasive measurement enabling the analysis of several physical and chemical parameters simultaneously. Near infrared (NIR; 4.000–10.000cm−1), attenuated total reflection (ATR; 400–4.000cm−1), Raman and far ultraviolet (FUV;120–200nm) spectroscopy have permanently increased their efficiencies for quality control of predominantly food stuff, but also of other natural products including mainly medicinal plants. All four techniques enable not only a quantitative analysis of potent ingredients, but also qualitative fingerprint analysis for the discrimination of, e.g., species and/or geographic origin, respectively. Thereby, each individual spectroscopic technique possesses its specific strength. Powerful miniaturized portable spectrometers based on linear variable tuneable filter (LVTF) or micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are helpful in order to prevent consumers from deception on one hand, on the other hand they represent powerful analytical instruments for measurements in the field. 2-Dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) represents a powerful technique for monitoring the dynamics of a system including temperature stability, extraction procedures etc. Imaging and mapping spectroscopy using infrared radiation and/or Raman scattering are not only suitable for classification of food stuff including e.g. maize kernels and/or coffee beans, but also for localizing the distribution of ingredients down to a resolution of 4μm.In the present contribution, the latest progresses of the different techniques are introduced and their applicability in the fields of natural product analysis will be discussed in detail by distinct selected applications.