Plants contain an extraordinarily diverse range of secondary metabolites including polyphenols, alkaloids, and terpenoids. Although these compounds are not involved in normal growth, development and reproduction, they still play a crucial role in the organism. For example, polyphenols act as pigments and can protect against disease. Secondary metabolites are also thought to be responsible for the purported health benefits associated with the consumption of botanicals, supplements, some foods and beverages. Interestingly, polyphenols are also associated with the quality and sensory characteristics of wine.
Gradient HPLC with spectro-electro array detection is both selective and sensitive and can be used to measure hundreds of known and unknown secondary metabolites in a sample. Such metabolite profiles contain a wealth of useful information. Changes in the pattern of metabolites, when evaluated using chemometric modeling software, can be used to study: product adulteration, contamination, composition, and stability, and in the case of wine and fruit juice, the effects of growing region and differences between varietals. The application of this metabolomic approach to wine, fruit juice adulteration and botanicals will be discussed in greater detail.
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