Universal quantitative NMR analysis of complex natural samples

Abstract

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a universal and quantitative analytical technique. Being a unique structural tool, NMR also competes with metrological techniques for purity determination and reference material analysis. In pharmaceutical research, applications of quantitative NMR (qNMR) cover mostly the identification and quantification of drug and biological metabolites. Offering an unbiased view of the sample composition, and the possibility to simultaneously quantify multiple compounds, qNMR has become the method of choice for metabolomic studies and quality control of complex natural samples such as foods, plants or herbal remedies, and biofluids. In this regard, NMR-based metabolomic studies, dedicated to both the characterization of herbal remedies and clinical diagnosis, have increased considerably. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.