Scientific investigations of the Imperial Gates from the Petrindu wooden church,Salaj County,Romania

In order to preserve and restore the Imperial Gates from the Petrindu wooden church, Salaj County, Romania, (map location—latitude, longitude: 46.97, 23.19), the scientific investigation of the wooden support and painting materials (ground and pigments) was performed, employing Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and 3D scanning. FTIR spectroscopy offered information about the wooden degradation stage, whereas X‐ray fluorescence and FTIR spectroscopic methods were employed for structural painting materials characterization. The structural data can be correlated with the artistic, theological, and historical analysis of this religious patrimony object. After obtaining information about the wooden support and painting materials, the Imperial Gates were 3D digitized using state of the art laser scanning technology. The digital 3D model obtained was restored in a virtual environment and converted into an interactive 3D model that can be used for Romanian cultural heritage digital dissemination.     

HPTLC and GC-MS for Separation and Identification of Eugenol in Plants

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - Samples of clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon have been extracted by maceration with ethanol for 24 h and with aqueous ethanol 48 h....     

Micro-Raman spectroscopic investigation of external wall paintings from St. Dumitru’s Church, Suceava, Romania

The external sixteenth century wall paintings of St. Dumitru's Church in Suceava (Romania) are suffering visually from deterioration. Fragments of these paintings spallated from the external wall have been studied by micro-Raman microscopy in order to elucidate possible causes of this process. Calcite and alpha-quartz are the components of the substratum indicating that the artists used the Roman fresco technique comprising a limewash putty. No organic binders have been detected in the substrate or pigment application. Amorphous carbon and goethite, alpha-FeOOH, have been identified in areas containing residues of grey and yellow pigments, respectively. Small amounts of gypsum have been detected in the grey areas which we attribute to special attention being given to surface preparation and pigment application in these areas. An abundance of sodium nitrate, nitratine, microcrystals have been observed on the surfaces of many fragments which suggests that a biodeterioration process originating from guano deposits could have been operating in these frescoes.     

Application of TLC and GC—MS to the Detection of Capsaicin from Hot Peppers (Capsicum annuum)

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - Capsaicin was extracted from red hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) fruits and from commercial red hot pepper powder and separated on...     

Separation and Identification of Piperine and Chavicine in Black Pepper by TLC and GC–MS

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC -     

Extraction and HPLC determination of the ascorbic acid content of three indigenous spice plants

Three sample preparation methods (wet grinding followed by centrifugation, ultrasonic-assisted extraction and microwave-assisted solvent extraction) for extracting ascorbic acid (AA) from parsley, dill and celery were evaluated. AA was extracted into 8% aqueous solutions of acetic acid, metaphosphoric acid and trichloroacetic acid, respectively. An efficient and precise high-performance liquid chromatography method was used for detecting AA. The best extraction technique was ultrasonic-assisted extraction, and acetic acid was the best extractant. A new and original pulse microwave-extraction procedure for AA extraction was also developed. Ascorbate from the plant extracts obtained was quantified and the linearity, precision, recovery, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were studied. LOD and LOQ were 0.2 and 0.22 mg/L for the established method, respectively. The mean recovery ranged from 90.7 to 102.3% with higher variation in the case of celery. Parsley contains the highest amount of ascorbic acid (264 mg AA/100 g of fresh plant), followed by dill (121 mg AA/100 g of fresh plant) and celery (103 mg AA/100 g of fresh plant).     

Enhancement of Mobile Phase Velocity in TLC by Means of an External Alternating Electric Field

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - In normal TLC practice, migration of the mobile phase through the layer is controlled by capillary forces. Under these conditions...