High-value Chemicals from Bioresources

Student: Melody Rhine
Mentors: Barbara Cole, Ray Fort

Abstract:
Substantial amounts of forest biomaterials including knotwood, bark, and foliage are underutilized in the forest products industry. The nature and distribution of extractives in waste biomaterials provide us with a potential source of high-value chemicals, such as trans-resveratrol. Trans-resveratrol (resveratrol), which is the preferred steric form, is an example of a polyphenol. Polyphenols generally have 3 physiological defense functions: as radical scavengers, as biocides, and as metal chelators. Resveratrol is found in various plants and wines, particularly red wines, and exhibits a multitude of favorable bioactivities: antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, anti-platelet aggregation effect, anti-atherogenic property, oestrogen-like growth-promoting effect, growth-inhibiting activity, immunomodulation, and chemoprevention. In this project, resveratrol will be extracted from bark waste using accelerated solvent extraction, following which the compound will be isolated using purification methods and quantified using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) and various forms of High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In addition, the antioxidant properties of various secondary metabolites of bark, including flavonoids, stilbenes, and lignans, will be investigated and quantified.

Interview with Melody Rhine on July 14, 2008 (7:01 minutes)