Luciana Maria Polcaro

I am currently a Ph.D. candidate, I obtained my master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology at the University of Salerno (Italy, SA) in July 2021, carrying out an experimental thesis in phytochemistry and pharmacognosy entitled: “New iridoids from Scabiosa atropurpurea and evaluation of biological activity”.

In January 2022 I started my Ph.D. in drug sciences at the University of Salerno (Italy, SA) under the supervision of Professor Milena Masullo. The title of my project is: “Low environmental impact extraction techniques and analytical methods for the development of products of health interest” and involves the study, application and comparison of conventional (maceration, digestion, infusion, etc.) and non-conventional (UAE, SLDE-Naviglio, DES/NADES) extraction techniques on selected medicinal plants. One of the main steps of my work includes the phytochemical investigation of plants through the isolation and purification of pure compounds, the acquisition and interpretation of 1D-2D NMR, HR-MAS and LC-MS experiments, and finally the application of spectrophotometric assays for the evaluation of the biological activity of single molecules and extracts.

In March 2024, I arrived in Jesus Angulo’s lab to evaluate the interaction of some isolated molecules with specific proteins using STD-NMR experiments.