Journal des techniques de chromatographie et de séparation
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Phytochemical Techniques in Complex Botanicals. The XXI Century Analytical Challenge

Marcello Nicoletti

We experimented in natural products a long period of reductionism and simplification to avoid any complexity as a boring and tedious disturb, coupled with countless attempts to adapt plants to the inappropriate role of biofactories of selected substances. However nowadays new approaches are radically changing the natural substances utilizations. Among several others, two factors were determinant: the appearance of a plethora of successful new products and the revival request for Mother Nature’s gifts. To be validated the new products are urgently asking for science and technology support. In this paper we will examine some items concerning the analytical aspects of botanicals, using as target the determination of compositions of raw materials and as main tool the HPTLC, High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography, fingerprint approach. Practical examples of HPTLC analyses, derived from applications on market products, are here reported and discussed in order to present an information about the benefits of HPTLC and when it is useful to use it, including limits and crisscross with other analytical tools.