The 20th annual Symposium will be held on Thursday, April 23, 2009.

Comparative Study of Red Wine and Camellia sinensis Chemical Composition
Poster Session-Science Complex Atrium, 4:00 PM

Jakub  Novak,   '09 81
   Major: Biochemistry
   Hometown: Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia

Sponsor(s): Vanessa McCaffrey
Support: FURSCA

Abstract: 
The focus of my research is comparison of the chemical composition of red wine and Camellia sinensis (green tea plant), along with determining the appropriate sequence of solvents used to isolate the plant chemicals of interest. A number of studies suggest that there are significant pharmacological effects associated with the phytochemicals that this research focuses on. The aforementioned studies then led to the design of structurally - derived pharmaceutical products used for a variety of medical conditions as in case of Epigallocatechin 3-gallate or trans-resveratrol.

This research project focuses on comparative analysis of the chemical compounds present in the two drinks because there is a significant amount of structurally comparable groups of phytochemicals present in both red wine and Camellia sinensis. They both contain group of polyphenolic flavonoid and catechin classes of plant chemicals known for their antioxidant properties ( (+)-catechin, (-)-epigallocatechin, quercetine, t-resveratrol, anthocyanidin, etc.). Liquid-liquid extractions were performed in order to isolate the plant chemicals. High performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry were performed in order to qualitatively and quantitatively compare the two groups of plant chemicals. The methods and results of these studies will be presented.

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