Our expertise focuses on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of organic metabolites, especially plant specialized metabolites. We develop and utilize new chemical methods for the detection and characterization of even such compounds that have not been known to be produced by the plant cells. At the same time we create compound-specific analysis methods for many types of compounds to enable their accurate quantification from any natural or non-natural mixture containing them.
All our research aims for better understanding of the significance of specialized metabolites in nature and for their better utilization in various medical or other applications. These actions require accurate structure-activity analyses of all the detected metabolite classes and individual metabolites. From methodological point of view we have especial expertise in (1) chromatographic techniques from UHPLC to preparative scale, (2) many types of mass spectrometry -based applications, (3) the utilization of UV, MS, CD and NMR spectra for metabolite identification, and (4) the measurement of different types of bioactivities of pure compounds and compound mixtures by well-plate readers.