Secondary metabolites are organic substances produced by organisms through the secondary metabolism pathways that have been widely studied concerning their pharmaceutical and biotechnological application. A practical example of these applications is the combination of paracetamol with caffeine, which resulted in a pharmaceutical formulation that, in the migraine treatment, results significantly better than the formulation without the plant metabolite. Besides, metabolites have been broadly studied in terms of hemisynthesis, since studies show that small structural changes in these natural origin compounds can significantly increase their potency and effectiveness in biological systems. Thus, the impact of natural compounds has gradually expanded in the various subjects of current science, in order to find ways to improve the well-being and health of society worldwide, as well as to solve economic and environmental problems.

            This workshop aims to make future geneticists and biotechnologists understand the importance of these metabolites, as well as establish the first contact with recurrent methodologies in the extraction of these organic compounds. Natural resources such as cinnamon, commonly used in all branches of cooking, black tea, typically used in the preparation of infusions, black pepper, a spice used as a condiment, and citrus fruits, will be the targets of study in this workshop. To this end, methods such as steam distillation, extraction using Soxhlet, and sublimation, reflux and crystallization techniques will be put to the test by participants in an attempt to extract metabolites with high relevance in biological systems such as caffeine, piperine, limonene and cinnamaldehyde. Finally, in a more theoretical approach, several techniques for the isolation (various types of chromatography) and characterization (e.g., mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance) of these metabolites will be presented.