The main objective of this research programme is to confirm the presence of natural media alternative to water or lipids in organisms, to clarify their physiological roles, and to develop applications of these natural non-water- or lipid-based liquids in diverse fields of science.

The main objective of this research programme is to confirm the presence of natural media alternative to water and lipids in living organisms, to clarify their physiological roles, and to develop applications of these new natural media in diverse fields of science.

Up to now it has been generally accepted that all enzyme-mediated reactions and biosynthesis involved in living organisms occur in medium that is basically composed of water or lipids. However, a very obvious question arises: considering the often poor water or lipid solubility of metabolites how can organisms, particularly plants which produce a broad range of primary and secondary metabolites, control biosynthetic processing and transportation in an all-aqueous or lipid media? Recently, I found that many combinations of solid compounds abundant in plants such as sugars, amino-, and organic acids become liquid under a certain condition. I have detected more than 60 combinations of solids that form liquids. Physically they are classified as natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES). Many metabolites are dissolved by 10-100 times better in these newly discovered liquids than in water or lipids. The discovery of these non-toxic solvent alternatives to water has far-reaching consequences for currently held views on plant physiology and biochemistry. It has led me to answer fundamental biological questions such as how organisms deal with their non-water or lipid soluble metabolites, how plants survive extreme drought or cold condition, and how seeds can survive extremely long dry periods and germinate. The present project aims to prove the presence of NADES in plants and to unravel their role in the cellular metabolism in the light of the questions mentioned above.

• Are Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents the Missing Link in Understanding Cellular Metabolism and Physiology? Y. H. Choi, J. van Spronsen, Y. Dai, M. Verberne, F. Hollmann, I. W. C. E. Arends, G.-Jan Witkamp, R. Verpoorte. Plant Physiology, 156, 1701-1705, 2011
• Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents as New Potential Media for Green Technology. Y. Dai, J. van Spronsen, G. -J. Witkamp, R. Verpoorte, Y. H. Choi. Analytica Chimica Acta, 766, 61-68, 2013.
• Natural deep eutectic solvents as a new extraction media for phenolic metabolites in Carthamus tinctorius L. Y. Dai, G. –J. Witkamp, R. Verpoorte, Y. H. Choi. Analytical Chemistry, 85, 6272-6278, 2013.
• Natural deep eutectic solvents providing enhanced stability of natural colarants from safflower (Carthamus tinctorius). Y. Dai, R. Verpoorte, Y. H. Choi. Food Chemistry, 159, 116-121, 2014.
• Tailoring properties of natural deep eutecic solvents with the addition of water to facilitate their applications. Y. Dai, R. Verpoorte, G. –J. Witkamp, Y. H. Choi. Food Chemistry, 187, 14-19, 2015
• Extending pharmaocological dose-response curves for salsalate with natural deep eutectic solvents. E. Rozema, A. D. van Dam, H. C. M. Sips, R. Verpoorte, O. C. Meijer, S. Kooijman, Y. H. Choi. RSC Advances, 5, 61398-61401, 2015.
• Application of natural deep eutectic solvents to the extraction of anthocyanins from Catharanthus roseus with high extractability and stability replacing conventional organic solvent. Y. Dai, E. Rozema, R. Verpoorte, Y. H. Choi. Journal of Chromatography A, 1434, 50-56, 2016.
• Application of natural deep eutectic solvents to the extraction of vanillin as a green processing. C. G. Gonzalez, N. R. Mustafa, E. G. Wilson, R. Verpoorte, Y. H. Choi. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, in press, 2017
• Towards eco-friendly crop protection: natural deep eutectic solvents and defensive secondary metabolites. S. Mouden . P. G. L. Klinkhamer . Y. H. Choi . K. A. Leiss. Phytochemistry Reviews, in press, 2017
• Ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents in natural products research. Y. Dai, J. van Spronsen, G. –J. Witkamp, R. Verpoorte, Y. H. Choi. Journal of Natural Products, 76, 2162-2173, 2013.

• bioactive molecules

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