The Research Group of Prof. Winterhalter deals with natural compound chemistry and flavour chemistry. At this time the main focus lies on the following projects:
Bioactive compounds in fruits and vegetables (anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, stilbenes, lignans, isoflavones, glucosinolates; structural elucidation, biological activity)
Analytics of wine and fruit juices (antioxidative compounds in red- and white wines, "French Paradox", structural elucidation, biological screening; pigments in red wine, stability, contribution to color; authenticity; aging of wine and fruit juices, indicators for aging; fraud)
Volatiles in fruits, vegetables and sparkling wine (formation pathways, precursors, contribution to sensory, off-flavors, application of precursors for the aromatization of convenience food)
Development of powerful liquid-liquid distribution separating systems (Countercurrent chromatography: development of analytical and preparative hydrodynamic separating systems, isolation of natural compounds by High Speed Countercurrent Chromatography and Low Speed Rotary Countercurrent Chromatography as well as Spiral-Coil LSRCCC for separations up to 100 g; separation of biopolymers by Centrifugal Precipitation Chromatography)
Carotinoides and carotinoid metabolites (structural elucidation, formation pathways, isolation and characterization of carotenases from animals and plants)
