<i>Humulus lupus </i>(Hops) are an integral component in the brewing process for beer, as they produce the bitter flavor. More importantly, they have many properties that could prove useful in pharmaceutical development, such as antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, along with the ability to act as inhibitors for certain cancer-causing genes. Hops contain three alpha acids (humulone, cohumulone, and adhumulone) and three beta acids (lupulone, colupulone, and adlupulone). There are currently no commercially available standards for the individual acids, only standards for all of them combined, International Calibration Extract 4 (ICE-4) produced by the American Society of Brewing Chemists, or standards containing only the alpha or beta acids. Through separation by Flash Chromatography, standards can be created for the individual acids which would allow for in-depth study into the properties of the individual acids. The purity of the separations is determined using HPLC and NMR, to ensure the acids are separated at a quality worthy of a standard. Current Flash and HPLC chromatographs gathered are in line with previous literature, and work has begun to increase the purity of separations. Further characterization, through GC/MS techniques, is being performed to determine if there are more efficient methods to characterize the separated compounds.

Isolation of alpha and beta acids in hops for standard purposes

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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