Hello
For an experiment, I´m interested in rapidly removing the phenolic compounds from recently-excised pine branches (small branches, 1-2cm wide and 10cm long) without destroying/damaging the internal anatomical structure of the branches.
I was thinking of heating the wood, but at what temperatures and for how long to prevent the destruction/damage of the cell tissues? Is there any other method (chemical treatment?)
Thanks
Pedro
Try to incubate the branches in a hydroalcoholic (mainly ethanol) solution by continuous shaking. This may extract the surface-related phenolics and it should be non-destructive for internal anatomy. Without knowing the main interest and target class of compounds, you should remember this approach is not selective and many other secondary metabolites such as terpenes, stilbenes, cyclitols, etc from pine bark tissue will be co-extracted along with phenolics...
Good luck...
Dear Ismail
Thank you for your reply, I´ll try that bath aproach (the removal/destruction of other compounds is not problematic to me)
For how long would you suggest the ethanol bath to take place?
You may optimize the incubation time by periodic sampling from the hydroalcoholic extract and by performing TPC analysis. It would be the simplest way to find the adequate duration. Otherwise, I can suggest at least 36-48 h for high-yield removal. You can decrease the total extraction time by also refreshing the extraction solvent during extraction since you don't need the phenolic structures (like employing dialysis and forming dialysates)...
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