A new methodology for a rapid and high-throughput comparison of
molecular profiles and biological activity of phytoextracts
Abstract
To robustly discover and explore phytocompounds, it is necessary to
evaluate the interrelationships between diverse variables that affect
the composition of the obtained compounds mixtures, such as the plant
species, plant tissue and the phytocompounds extraction process.
Furthermore, it is relevant to evaluate the biological activity
associated to the high diversity of biocompounds mixtures obtained along
these processes, including cytotoxicity. The present work evaluates how
Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy can be used to acquire
in a simple, rapid, economic, and high-throughput mode the whole
molecular fingerprint of aqueous and ethanolic extracts obtained from
leaves, seeds and flowers of Cynara cardunculus, and ethanolic
extracts from Matricaria chamomilla flowers. The impact of plant
species, plant tissue, and extraction procedure on phytocompounds yield
and whole molecular composition was evaluated. FTIR-spectroscopy was
also applied to study the effect of each extract on animal cell
metabolism, and to compare this activity of different extracts.
FTIR-spectra were acquired in automatic mode based on a small sample
volume (25 μL) on 96-wells microplate. The low reduced volumes will
further reduce costs and the quantity of biological material needed for
this type of analysis while enabling to increase the diversity of
conditions screened to achieve. This type of assay can therefore promote
the discovery of phytocompounds.