Nhi Tran, “Development of an On-Line Liquid-Liquid Extraction Method for Quantitative Determination of Curcumin”
Mentor: Joseph Aldstadt, Chemistry & Biochemistry

Curcumin is a bioactive component of turmeric that is widely used in various applications: medicine, cosmetics, food, and textiles. It is a pharmaceutical substance known for anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties. Curcumin is a polyphenol which has strong excitation and emission fluorescence properties at the range of wavelengths from 440 nm to 575 nm. The purpose of this research is to develop an analytical method to improve the measurement of Curcumin by incorporating Sequential Injection Analysis (SIA), Liquid-Liquid Extraction (LLE), and Fluorescence Spectroscopy. SIA is an automated analytical technique used to integrate LLE and Fluorescence Spectroscopy. LLE is based on a method in which different flow velocities in two-phase segmented flow are used to separate the analyte from the sample matrix. Fluorescence spectroscopy is a highly sensitive technique determining the concentration of an analyte. In the method under development, Curcumin is automatically pre-concentrated and isolated by SIA-LLE using n-Hexanol as the extraction phase. SIA-LLE with fluorescence quantification is then used to measure Curcumin at low levels in complex sample matrices. We will optimize the SIA-LLE-Fluorescence method by studying aspects of the LLE component such as phase composition, flow rate, and extraction conditions, and then apply the method to the study of different samples of turmeric root.