Elucidating Health-Enhancing Properties of Natural Products: A Journey from Extract Isolation to Quantum Mechanics (QM) Calculations

2nd International Conference on Chemo and Bioinformatics ICCBIKG 2023 (261-264)

АУТОР(И) / AUTHOR(S): Gregor Hostnik, Anja Petek, Sara Štumpf, Franjo Frešer, Zala Kolenc, Matej Keber, Jelena Tošović, Urban Bren

Е-АДРЕСА / E-MAIL: gregor.hostnik@um.si

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DOI: 10.46793/ICCBI23.261H

САЖЕТАК / ABSTRACT:

Natural extracts are a promising source of compounds with health-enhancing properties. However, the challenge lies in understanding the relationships between the composition of extracts, and the connection between the structure and activity of its constituents, given that the extracts are a complex mixture. Typically, researchers adopt two main methods to tackle this: experimental examination of the biological activity of the extracts and computational chemistry to obtain insights into the properties of the molecules. There are, however, inherent challenges in drawing comparisons between the results of these methods, particularly because of the potential antagonistic and synergistic effects of compounds present within the natural extracts. This task is significantly simplified when pure compounds are used for experimental work.
This study exemplifies the process of isolating pure compounds from hop and chestnut wood extracts using preparative High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The pKa values, chelation ability and antibacterial activity of isolated compounds were examined experimentally. Moreover, the experimental results were further elucidated with computational findings, an approach made possible using pure compounds. This comprehensive approach significantly enhances our understanding of these natural compounds.

КЉУЧНЕ РЕЧИ / KEYWORDS:

Purification, chelation, protolytic equilibrium, hop extract, chestnut extract

ЛИТЕРАТУРА / REFERENCES:

  • S. Sauer, A. Plauth, Health-Beneficial Nutraceuticals-Myth or Reality?, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 101 (2017), 951—961.
  • S. Štumpf, G. Hostnik, T. Langerholc, M. Pintarič, Z. Kolenc, U. Bren, The Influence of Chestnut Extract and Its Components on Antibacterial Activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Plants, 12 (2023) 2043.
  • G. Hostnik, J. Tošović, S. Štumpf, A. Petek, U. Bren, The influence of pH on UV/Vis spectra of gallic and ellagic acid: A combined experimental and computational study, Spectrochim. Acta A, 267 (2022), 120472.
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  • F. Frešer, G. Hostnik, J. Tošović, U. Bren, Dependence of the Fe(II)-Gallic Acid Coordination Compound Formation Constant on the pH, Foods, 10 (2021) 2689