GeneralPhenolicMethods

AnnE.Hagerman2002
Phenoliccompoundsundergocharacteristicreactionsduetothechemistryofthephenolicfunctional
group.Amongthemostusefulofthesereactionsforanalyticalpurposesisthetendencyforthephenolic
grouptobeoxidized.Ifoxidationiscoupledtoreductionofanappropriatereagentthenquantitative
analysisisachieved.WidelyusedmethodsbasedonredoxchemistryincludethePrusssianbluemethod
andtheFolinmethod(Swain,T.&.Hillis,W.E.J.Sci.FoodAgric.1959,10,63).
Othergeneralphenolicmethodsarebasedonformationofcoloredphenolicmetalioncomplexes,but
thesemethodsarenotrecomended(Hagerman,Zhao&Johnson,1997).
Differencesintheredoxpotentialandstoichiometryfordifferentphenolicsleadstodifferential
responseswithredoxassays.Althoughtheseassaysareoftenstandardizedwithsimplephenolicssuch
asgallicacid,complexpolyphenolicsmayhaveaverydifferentresponseonamolarormassbasisthan
thesimplestandard.Thustheresultsmustbeexpressedas"gallicacidequivalents"ratherthanas
absoluteweightpercent.
Generalphenolicmethodscanbeusefulforscreeningplantsforthepresenceofphenolics.Useofthe
moreselectivefunctionalgroupmethodsandofmethodsusedtoassessbiologicalactivityisstrongly
recommended.

Copyright 2002 by Ann E. Hagerman. All rights reserved.