Phytochemistry & Biodiscovery

Identity and purity of the starting material are prerequisites for safety and efficacy of herbal medicinal products. For unambiguous identification and quality assessment of herbal drugs and their preparations we use robust, quick and reliable methods like HPTLC, microscopy, UV/VIS-spectrophotometry, GC, UPLC and FTIR. Sophisticated combinations of high-performance separation techniques with specific high-end detectors (e.g. GC-MS, UPLC-DAD-MSⁿ, UPC²-PDA-QDa, UPLC-MS/MS) allow for the identification and exact quantification of very small amounts of compounds, even present in complex matrices or mixtures like plant extracts, tissues or body fluids.

Selected Papers:

Kapp K, Gafriller J, Kirchweger B, Rollinger JM, Grienke U. Supercritical fluid-based protocol for the identification and quantitation of triterpenoids in commercial Inonotus obliquus (chaga) samples. J Chromatogr A. 2025; 1758:466197. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40639128

Schuhknecht L, Ortmayr K, Janes J, Blasi M, Panoussis E, Bors S, Dorcakova T, Fuhrer T, Beltrao P, Zampieri M. A human metabolic map of pharmacological perturbations reveals drug modes of action. Nat Biotechnol. 2025. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/39875672

Eichenauer E, Sykora C, Ortmayr K, Glasl S. "Radix Saniculae": Phytochemical characterization and potential adulteration of an Austrian traditional wound-healing agent. Plants. 2025;14(2). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/39861619

Göls T, Eichenauer E, Langeder J, Aichner GF, Mauser G, Amtmann L, Grienke U, Glasl S. Ultra high-performance supercritical fluid chromatography for the quantitation of diterpene resin acids in Norway spruce samples. Front Pharmacol. 2022; 13: 906411. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2022.906411/full