Location: Methods and Application of Food Composition Laboratory
Project Number: 8040-52000-066-009-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement
Start Date: Oct 1, 2018
End Date: Sep 30, 2023
Objective:
1. Develop guidelines for validation of botanical identification methods based on chemometric one-class modeling.
2. Develop an analytical protocol for systematic analysis of botanical supplements.
3. Develop mass spectrometry libraries for botanical materials based on metabolomic and lipidomic methods.
4. Develop validated methods for specific botanicals: cranberry, turmeric, and total proanthocyanidins.
5. Develop methods for verifying the presence of ingredients in mixed botanical supplements.
6. Develop and establish on-line methods for determining similarity of botanical supplements and identification of phytochemical secondary metabolites.
Approach:
New and innovative methods will be used to identify, authenticate, and characterize botanical supplements; from raw ingredients to processed products. Development of these methods is challenging to the analyst and necessary for the consumer and industry. Over the next five years, we propose to combine analytical data with taxonomic and genetic data to provide the clearest possible description of botanical supplements, their components, and their variability. We will obtain a wide range of authentic raw materials through purchases and collaborations to account for the expected natural variation. We will acquire, through collaboration, a national sampling of challenging botanicals that are of commercial interest (Aloe sp. and camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze-tea), or exhibit altered phenotypes as a result of hybridization (Echinacea sp.) or endophytic fungi (Actaea racemosa L., black cohosh). We will use chemical fingerprinting, based on both chromatographic and direct spectral analysis, and chemometric data processing to provide rapid identification of botanicals and to discriminate between authentic and adulterated materials. We will use ultra high performance liquid chromatography-high resolution accurate mass/mass spectrometry (UHPLCHRMS) and high field proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectrometry to develop metabolite profiles of the raw botanical materials. We will acquire DNA barcodes for all the materials we analyze through an a NACA with NSF AuthenTechnologies. We will combine these data (taxonomic, genetic, fingerprint, and metabolomic profiles) in a prototype database that, when finalized, will allow identification of raw botanicals through DNA barcodes of chemical figherprints and will provide access to the full chemical composition of the botanical material.
