Ricerc@Sapienza

In recent years, the synthesis and introduction of Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) into the illicit market has reached alarming levels. More than 730 compounds have been identified by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Among the newest NPS, synthetic opioids deserve special attention, in particular fentanyl and its analogues that in 2018 covered more than 70% of the world demand for opioids, with thousands of fatal events in USA.

In recent years, the interest in materials applications in the biomedical area has increased considerably, with the aim of minimizing the immune response to a foreign body. The design and manufacture of biomaterials refers to different scientific aspects and must fulfill specific requests. In particular, a profound analysis of the chemical, physical and biological characteristics of the environment in which the material is supposed to act is of fundamental importance.

Bacterial canker of Actinidia, caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa), is the most serious disease of these plants worldwide. Leaves of three species of Actinidia, namely A. chinensis var. chinensis, A. chinensis var. deliciosa and A. arguta, having different degrees of tolerance to Psa, were analyzed by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy. Aqueous extracts of leaves were studied and several metabolites, classified as organic acids, amino acids, carbohydrates, phenols and other metabolites, were identified by 1D and 2D NMR experiments and quantified.

Brassicaceae family provides several crops which are worldwide known for their interesting phytochemical profiles, especially in terms of content of glucosinolates. These secondary metabolites show several beneficial effects toward consumers’ health, and several studies have been conducted to identify cultivation factors affecting their content in crops. One of the agronomic practices which is attracting growing interest is the organic one, which consists in avoiding the use of mineral fertilizers as well as pesticides.

Proteins perform numerous tasks within living organisms, some act as structural support for cells and tissues, others are transporters of non-soluble molecules in water and others, such as lysozyme, are involved in defensive mechanisms against bacterial attacks. The growing ease of obtaining proteins in substantial quantities and purity, by means of increasingly sophisticated bio-engineering techniques (1), may lead to their use in pharmaceutical formulations as drug delivery mechanisms or in food as preservatives (2).

An analytical approach including Panel Test, Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS)
and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was proposed to characterize Italian “Colline
Pontine” PDO olive oils (40 samples) of two consecutive crop years. Our approach has evidenced
the high quality of these olive oils. Only 6 of 40 olive oils samples were defined as “defective” by the
official Panel Test due to the detection of negative sensory attributes. The low variability of isotopic

Background NMR targeted and untargeted methodologies are widely recognized as important tools for food authentication and the detection of counterfeit products. Targeted approaches allow the identification of specific markers of identity/adulteration for a given foodstuff. In the untargeted approach, the chemical profile of the whole foodstuff is used to create a unique fingerprint as a reference for suspect samples. The untargeted analysis methodology typically follows the metabolomics approach.

The composition of juice and essential oil of Citrus limetta Risso was investigated. Multidimensional and enantio-gas chromatography were used for the elucidation of the volatile profile and the assessment of enantiomeric distribution. Predominant compounds were linalyl acetate (13.06 g/100 g), β-pinene (6.79 g/100 g), myrcene (1.40 g/100 g) and sabinene (1.05 g/100 g). Through a β-cyclodextrin column eight chiral pairs were separated, equally distributed between laevorotatory and dextrorotatory enantiomers.

The powerful features of the NMR analyses on olive oils in well established since decades ago and is to: lack of chemical tratments, costant instrumental outcome ( good reproducibility), quick acqusition of a great amount of data.

The multiple assignment recovered analysis (MARA) on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra is here presented with the aim to provide the quantitative label of chemical mixtures such as foodstuff. The method takes advantage from the multiple NMR signals generated by any chemical; these will be all proportional to the concentration of the parent compound. In a well-known system, the selection of many integration regions enables the development of simple relationships fulfilled just by specific quantitative values of the expected components.