NIR proves effective for herbal structural information
Bran + Luebbe, based in Brixworth, UK, has been working with the All American Pharmaceutical and Natural Foods Corporation (AAPNFC) to develop quantitative and qualitative structural information for a wide range of medicinal herbs, vitamins and minerals, using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy.
Purity can be determined using the B+L Analytics' InfraProver, giving manufacturers the information that incoming raw materials have not been spiked or interfered with. Samples are analysed 'as is', without any sample preparation.
Using the InfraProver, library models have been developed by the AAPNFC for herbals, amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins and sugars, and a range of miscellaneous materials containing a variety of molecular species. Quantitative analysis of active ingredients and other important properties in both raw materials and finished products can be determined.