Separation of Chlorins and Carotenoids in Capillary Electrophoresis

The present study reports the investigation of capillary electrophoresis (CE) for the separation of the photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll derivatives as well as carotenoids) together. Various CE methods, such as micellar electrokinetic chromatography, capillary electrokinetic chromatography, and nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) are tested, with coated and uncoated capillary columns to evaluate optimal separation conditions using diode array detection. The effect of different type and composition of organic solvents and surfactants on the separation is discussed. Detection limits are found in the range of 1.14-2.45 ppm. According to the system suitability results, the most effective separation is observed using NACE with Aliquat 336 as cationic surfactant in coated capillary and mixture of MeOH-ACN-THF (5:4:1, v/v/v) as solvent. Quantitative evolution is investigated, and recovery percentage values are found to be 96.7-102

Identification of New Aromatic Compounds in the New Zealand Manuka Honey by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Analysis of aromatic compounds in the New Zealand manuka honey was carried out by solid phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 38 compounds were detected. Seven of them such as; 1,4-bis(x-methoxyphenyl)-but-2-en-1-one, 1,5-bis(x-methoxyphenyl)-pent-3-en-1-one, 1,4-bis(x-methoxyphenyl)-1-pentanone, 1,6-bis(x-methoxyphenyl)-3-heptene, 1,6-bis(x-methoxyphenyl)-hex-2(3 or 4)-en-1-one and 2(3, 4 or 5)-hydroxy-1,6-bis(x-methoxyphenyl)-1-hexanone, had never before been identified as natural products. Their structures were deduced from the mass spectral data. Seven other compounds; 2,3-dimethoxynaphthalene, 4-(x-methoxyphenyl)-1-phenyl-1-butanone, desoxyanisoin, 2,6-dimethoxybenzoic acid benzyl ester, 4,4'-dimethoxystilbene, 3,3,4,5,5,8-hexamethyl-2,3,5,6-tetrahydro-s-indacene-1,7-dione and 1,5-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)-pentane-1,5-dione, were found in honey for the first time. Methyl syringate, ortho-methoxyacetophenone and 3-phenyllactic acid were the most abundant components