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Raman spectroscopy as a non‐invasive technique for the quantification of melanins in feathers and hairs
Author(s) -
Galván Ismael,
Jorge Alberto,
Ito Kazuma,
Tabuchi Keisuke,
Solano Francisco,
Wakamatsu Kazumasa
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
pigment cell and melanoma research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1755-148X
pISSN - 1755-1471
DOI - 10.1111/pcmr.12140
Subject(s) - feather , melanin , raman spectroscopy , chemistry , pigment , chromatography , biology , high performance liquid chromatography , botany , biochemistry , zoology , organic chemistry , optics , physics
Summary The quantification of melanins is a complex task due to the chemical heterogeneity of the pigments and the difficulty of their isolation. The best accepted procedure currently consists in the chemical cleavage of melanins and the subsequent detection of degradation products by HPLC , which implies the destruction of samples. Here, we show that R aman spectroscopy is a non‐invasive technique that can be used to quantify melanins. We made parallel analyses of the characteristics of pheomelanin and eumelanin R aman spectra as measured by confocal R aman microscopy and of degradation products of pheomelanin (4‐amino‐3‐hydroxyphenylalanine, 4‐ AHP ) and eumelanin (pyrrole‐2,3,5‐tricarboxylic acid, PTCA ) as measured by HPLC in feathers of red‐legged partridges and hairs of wild boars and humans. We found strong correlations between the spectral R aman characteristics and 4‐ AHP and PTCA levels, which indicates that the R aman spectra of melanins can be used to determine their content.