Dutch Focus
What makes it possible for cacti to survive for years in a drought-ridden desert? How can so-called “resurrection plants” such as the Rose of Jericho survive months, even years, of extreme dehydration, only to be seemingly reborn when supplied with a small amount of water? Three researchers from the University of Leiden and the Delft University of Technology think they might know the answer
NADES could be missing ingredient in biological mysteries
Dr. Young Hae Choi and Prof. Robert Verpoorte of the University of Leiden, and Prof. Geert-Jan Witkamp of
the Delft
University of Technology, believe that their research into Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADES) and their specific properties can help to shed light on a range of biological phenomena, and more importantly, solve long-running problems in the pharmaceutical and food industries. “It started about seven years ago when
we were doing a lot of metabolomics work,
trying to identify
compounds as possible present animal, or microbial cells,’’
as many in plant,
says Prof.
Verpoorte. ‘‘We noticed that they always contained quite a large amount of organic bases would
such as choline, more than you expect
in an appropriate
biosynthetic pathway.’’ Dr. Choi and Prof. Verpoorte discussed the implications of finding a significant
22
amount of choline in these processes, and concluded that it may point to the existence of a naturally occurring ionic liquid (IL). Synthetic ILs consist of an acid and a base in equimolar concentrations and are tailor made from different synthetic components for chemical and enzymatic
reactions. advantage is Their
volatile, these liquids last for ever. Experiments with
rise to liquids that being totally non- choline and some
common organic acids found in plants gave
that were able to
dissolve a wide range of poorly water soluble compounds commonly found in all kind of organisms. Further studies then led to the discovery of NADES, which are similar in properties to ILs but can be made by mixing neutral solid compounds like
sugars and sugar alcohols with
common amino acids, organic acids and bases as found in all organisms.
Once the presence of NADES had been
predicted and the physical proof of their existence had been provided, the team started to look at the biological significance of their findings. ‘‘Think about a flower standing in the
major
Sun for weeks. If the water in the flower is stored where all of the flower’s fragrance is kept, then after a day’s sunshine the fragrances will
be gone,’’ says Prof.
Verpoorte. ‘‘In reality, there is a NADES in the flower which remains after the water has gone, and helps the flower to retain its fragrance.’’ Dr. Choi and Prof. Verpoorte suggest that
the reason a flower is able to retain its fragrant properties in its nectar
is that
some of its component parts can combine to form a NADES with high water retaining capabilities. Essentially,
found in flowers that are solid at room temperature,
for example sugars and Insight Publishers | Projects the compounds
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68