Source: UNIVERSITY OF MAINE submitted to NRP
ACCELERATED SOLVENT EXTRACTION FOR SAFE AND EFFICIENT ANALYSIS OF PHYTOCHEMICALS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
NRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0211452
Grant No.
2007-35503-18457
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
2007-02635
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Aug 1, 2007
Project End Date
Jul 31, 2008
Grant Year
2007
Program Code
[71.1]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE
(N/A)
ORONO,ME 04469
Performing Department
FOOD SCIENCE & HUMAN NUTRITION
Non Technical Summary
It is often time consuming, expensive and hazardous to extract chemicals from foods for further analysis. Current extraction techniques necessary for quantifying both beneficial and toxic compounds in foods often require the use of dangerous solvents which expose the laboratory worker to health hazards, and simultaneously add to the waste stream. These solvents are often expensive to purchase and even more costly to dispose of properly. The accelerated solvent extraction system (ASE) purchased for this project will allow the researchers to extract targeted chemicals in various foods with smaller volumes of safer solvents. It is also hoped that the techniques developed from this project will lead to faster, more efficient extraction of a number of chemical compounds.
Animal Health Component
75%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
75%
Developmental
25%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
7011461200050%
7111310200025%
7121110200025%
Knowledge Area
711 - Ensure Food Products Free of Harmful Chemicals, Including Residues from Agricultural and Other Sources; 712 - Protect Food from Contamination by Pathogenic Microorganisms, Parasites, and Naturally Occurring Toxins; 701 - Nutrient Composition of Food;

Subject Of Investigation
1310 - Potato; 1110 - Apple; 1461 - Peppers;

Field Of Science
2000 - Chemistry;
Goals / Objectives
Biologically active chemicals found in fruits and vegetables as well as non-food plants have garnered increasing interest from growers, processors, nutritionists and the public in recent years. The extraction, purification and analysis of these phytochemicals from complex plant matrices are often difficult, labor-intensive, and costly procedures that routinely require the use of toxic solvents. Newer extraction systems, even with their inherent limitations, have increased efficiency and greatly reduced hazardous analytical wastestreams. Accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) offers maximum versatility for phytochemical extraction from a wide variety of matrices, as the temperature, pressure and solvent concentration parameters are easily controlled for optimal separation of target analytes. This technology, coupled with a semi-preparative liquid chromatograph (semi-prep LC) and a fraction collector provides a powerful system that enables efficient extraction and clean-up of a wide range of phytochemicals and biologically active compounds from a variety of complex matrices.
Project Methods
The ASE Extraction & Semi-Prep instrumentation described in this proposal will enhance the ability of the Food Chemical Safety Laboratory to extract and purify bioactives such as capsinoids, capsaicinoids, anthocyanins and ginsenocides and allow for in-house production of analytical standards, which are currently not commercially available or are cost prohibitive. This equipment will further support study of other emerging bioactives, development and evaluation of value-added local products (which are a crucial component of the Maine economy), provide outstanding cutting-edge training and research opportunities to a varied student population and create new collaborative opportunities.

Progress 08/01/07 to 07/31/08

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The accelerated solvent extraction system (ASE) in combination with a semi-preparative high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) and fraction collector was purchased with the objective of extracting and purifying a wide variety of chemical compounds from complex plant, food and soil matrices. We have integrated the new equipment into our Food Chemical Safety Laboratory and in addition to our own food science staff, have given other University of Maine researchers the opportunity to include new, faster and less toxic extraction techniques into their research activities. As our laboratory is developing new rapid and reliable methods for melamine contamination of foodstuffs, one of our successes with the new instrumentation was the development of an ASE extraction method for melamine in pet foods. This method will be submitted for scientific journal publication in the near future. Other food science-related projects the system has been used for include the extraction of resveratrol (a potent anti-aging compound) and other stilbenes from several tree species grown in Maine; and the extraction of polyaromatic hydrocarbons from lobster tissue. The ASE system has also proven useful for the extraction of pyrethroid insecticides from estuary sediments, and the semi-prep HPLC has been used to further purify and concentrate these insecticides, allowing us to reduce detection limits to low part per billion (ppb) levels. The lifespan of this equipment is greater than seven years, making it useful for many eclectic food chemistry projects, environmental testing and teaching as future opportunities arise. Current and near-term projects include the extraction and purification of the mycotoxin, patulin from fungal-inoculated apples; extraction of phenolic compounds from elderberries and elderberry food products; and the extraction of capsaicinoids and capsinoids from Capsicum fruit. PARTICIPANTS: Brian Perkins (PD), University of Maine Food Science and Human Nutrition, provides oversight of the instrumentation and is responsible for graduate and undergraduate students researching melamine, capsaisinoids, capsinoids, and phenolic compounds in food. Lawrence LeBlanc (PI), University of Maine School of Marine Sciences, developed and continues to develop techniques for the extraction of environmental toxins from marine animals and sediments. Beth Calder (PI), University of Maine Cooperative Extension, is involved in our patulin research and is currently using the semi-prep HPLC system for patulin purification from inoculated fruit. Rodney Bushway (PI), Chair, University of Maine Food Science and Human Nutrition, provides technical advice for complex analytical chemistry applications. TARGET AUDIENCES: Beacon Analytical Systems (Portland, Maine) works closely with the University of Maine Food Chemical Safety Laboratory and is currently providing technical support and supplies for melamine research. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) represents a fairly recent technique for extracting a wide range of chemical compounds from food, plant and soil samples while reducing the use of highly toxic solvents. Use of ASE in our laboratory has lowered exposure of students and staff to some of these solvents and has also reduced our hazardous waste output. We have integrated this instrumentation into our Food Analysis class for graduate and undergraduate students, providing them valuable experience for future employment and research opportunities. High detection limits of certain pesticides contained in many complex samples is a perpetual problem for analytical chemists. Development of extraction techniques using ASE /semi-prep HPLC for pyrethroid insecticides from marine sediments has enabled us to lower detection limits to very low levels. Data collected by other researchers using our techniques will be used by regulatory agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Maine Board of Pesticides Control to establish rules for the application of this class of insecticides. Finally, the melamine extraction technique developed with the ASE can adapted for global use by other laboratories to quickly extract food samples for melamine content.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period