{"id":3463,"date":"2021-04-18T17:32:38","date_gmt":"2021-04-18T21:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/undergraduate-research-forum\/?p=3463"},"modified":"2021-04-18T17:32:40","modified_gmt":"2021-04-18T21:32:40","slug":"c20-p-methods-for-tannin-purification-quantitative-and-qualitative-analysis-and-quality-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/undergraduate-research-forum\/c20-p-methods-for-tannin-purification-quantitative-and-qualitative-analysis-and-quality-control\/","title":{"rendered":"C20-P: Methods for Tannin Purification, Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis, and Quality Control"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tannins are plentiful in plant based foods. Due to their unique chemistry, they have important effects on the health of humans and other animals. However, the tannin itself is not absorbed; rather, the gut microbiome breaks it down and its decomposition products are absorbed. This makes studying the effects of dietary tannins difficult. To combat this problem, we created a process to purify and characterize C13 labeled tannin that can be tracked in metabolic studies. We obtained leaves and twigs from Salix alba that was grown in a C-13 enriched environment. In our preliminary experiments, we are developing methods for extracting willow tannin, using leaves (S. pulchra and S. alba) that are not labeled. The process uses chloroform and acetone extractions, freeze drying, and column chromatography to remove impurities. Acid butanol and thiolysis assays are used in combination with HPLC to assess sample purity and characterize the tannin by monomeric composition and chain length. We use a well characterized tannin prepared from Sorghum grain as our standard. Each tannin was successfully extracted at similar purities. When compared to the Sorghum standard, the S. pulchra tannin was composed of slightly shorter chains, with 13.5 units on average rather than 15. The willow tannin was also more complex, with epigallocatechin and gallocatechin subunits as well as the catechin and epicatechin found in Sorghum tannin. The two willow tannins were comparable in their compositions, although their exact amounts of each monomer varied slightly. Now that our extraction, purification, and characterization methods have been shown to work for both our standards and the species of interest, we are ready to extract the labeled tannin for use in metabolic studies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authors:<\/strong> Ren\u00e9 Halcom, Jules Jefferson, Ellie Knutson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faculty Advisor: <\/strong>Ann Hagerman, Chemistry and Biochemistry<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graduate Student Advisor:<\/strong> Sadeepa Mallikarachchi, Chemistry and Biochemistry<\/p>\n\n\n\n