Advances in Chemical Fingerprint Assessment and Analytical Isolation of Natural Products and Pharmaceuticals

Dear Colleagues,

Natural Products and Pharmaceuticals are a rich resource of potential therapeutics, and they have broad, synergistic actions on physiological systems and a relatively lower incidence of adverse events. Moreover, they have been used as natural remedies to prevent and cure diseases for a long time. Fingerprint analysis has emerged as a very useful technique to assess the quality of natural products by evaluating the whole chemical profile and extracting a pattern to assess the individual material or formulation. HPLC fingerprinting could be used for the comprehensive evaluation and quality assessment of Natural Products and Pharmaceuticals, providing a theoretical basis for future development and utilization. Quality control necessitates the separation and quantification of molecules and the use of advanced techniques for the precise characterization of ingredients. These techniques can also be improved and updated to reduce the costs and minimize sample preparation and the consumption of solvents. Chemical fingerprinting could be applied also for the differentiation of other herbal preparations to control them. The aim of this Special Issue is to investigate the analytical and fingerprinting methods (also hyphenated) to find information and similarities/differences based on certain characteristics. Lastly, knowledge about the chemical structure and amount of impurities and by-products is also important for toxicity and regulatory purposes.

Dr. Arianna Granese
Guest Editor

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• quality control
• contaminants and secondary metabolites
• chemical fingerprints
• analytical techniques
• regulatory guidelines
• bioactive compounds in natural products