Unit of General and Organic Chemistry, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liege, Passage des Déportés 2, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium.
Talanta. 2012 Nov 15;101:447-52. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2012.09.058. Epub 2012 Oct 5.
Garlic has been known for its therapeutic effects for centuries and is used worldwide as a functional food. The concentration of the active molecules could be enhanced by a better knowledge of their biosynthesis. The precursor of these compounds, alliin (a sulfur amino-acid) has been obtained by chemical synthesis. However, this synthesis route also leads to a diastereoisomer as co-product. This work describes the development of an analytical method which allows the separation and quantification of the two diastereoisomers in order to determine in which proportion the natural form can be produced. The HPLC method which was optimized and validated by accuracy profile exploits an original stationary phase consisting of porous graphitic carbon (PGC). Furthermore, the developped method was used to separate the diastereoisomers of methiin, another cysteine sulfoxide, and to analyze an aqueous extract of garlic. The ability to quantify the amount of natural alliin is valuable for further work on garlic molecules and their application for health protection.
大蒜的药用功效已为人所知数百年，它作为一种功能性食品在全世界范围内被使用。通过更好地了解其生物合成途径，可以提高活性分子的浓度。这些化合物的前体，也就是丙基半胱氨酸（一种含硫氨基酸），可以通过化学合成得到。然而，这种合成路线也会导致副产物的差向异构体的生成。本工作描述了一种分析方法的开发，该方法可以分离和定量两种差向异构体，以确定可以以何种比例生成天然形式。通过准确度概况优化和验证的 HPLC 方法利用了由多孔石墨碳（PGC）组成的独特固定相。此外，所开发的方法还用于分离另一种半胱氨酸亚砜甲硫氨酸的差向异构体，并分析大蒜的水提物。定量天然丙基半胱氨酸的能力对于大蒜分子的进一步研究及其在健康保护方面的应用具有重要价值。
