Detection of anthraquinones in complex mixtures.
IPB chemists have recently published an efficient approach for the detection of anthraquinones in complex mixtures of compounds. For the identification of these natural compounds, they combined two different analytical methods, namely high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) and negative ion desorption electrospray ionisation high-resolution mass spectrometry (DESI-HRMS). As a proof of concept, the scientists used this approach to detect well-known anthraquinones such as emodin or skyrin in raw extracts of Chilean Cortinarii fungi. Anthraquinones are coloring agents and chemotaxonomically important marker compounds. They also show a variety of pharmaceutical effects and are widespread in medicinal plants, such as aloe and rhubarb. In the future, this proof-of-concept study can therefore serve to detect anthraquinone-based colorants in medicinal plants, but also in food and cosmetics.
