Selective detection of bioactive compounds

Effect-directed analysis combining HPTLC with bioassays is attracting growing interest in connection with fast toxicity screening for environmental and food-related applications, in the risk assessment and monitoring of drinking water, wastewater and natural attenuation processes, and in the identification of biological activity in natural product extracts.

This example shows the biological activity of berberine containing drugs by HPTLC-bioluminescence screening. Berberine alkaloids are considered to be the active ingredients of many medicinal plants and their biological activity is revealed by the Bioluminex™ assay.

Berberine alkaloids can be easily detected by their green to yellow fluorescence under UV 366 nm. The blue arrow indicates an additional compound which can not be seen under UV 366 nm