Over the years, separation techniques have been increasingly highlighted for their central role in qualitative and quantitative analyses applied in various production fields (environmental, food, cosmetic, biological, clinical, and pharmacotoxicological), leading to an incredible increase in technologies, procedures, and instrumental configurations. In particular, there has also been an increase in new stationary phases for chiral compounds, formats, and, above all, analytical performances in terms of selectivity, efficiency, and resolution.

Furthermore, recently, with the introduction and acceptance by an ever-increasing portion of the scientific community of the importance of the green approach, the size of the separation system has also seen a notable reduction to the advantage of separation techniques that require smaller volumes and flows, as well as a decrease in the quantity of samples needed for analysis.

This session aims to highlight and discuss recent innovations related to the separation techniques applied to natural products and pharmaceuticals. The scientific committee that will select the contributions of this session is composed of international experts in the fields of quantitative analysis, separation techniques, and sample preparation, as well as the analysis of complex matrices. The invited speakers are international experts who will report on the issues related to the chiral separation of active ingredients and quantitative applications in complex matrices.

The significance of food (and beverages) in human society has recently moved from food intended only as a vital need to food that is approached with hedonic and healthy attitudes. The mantra “eat to live” is no longer predominant: the blooming of the culinary arts at all levels of society testifies to a reshaped interest toward food and a novel vision of nutrition. Therefore, the availability of food commodities, regardless of season and geography, has exponentially increased. This poses new challenges to regulatory and political bodies, hence also to researchers who have to encompass new frontiers of investigation. Furthermore, the severe environmental decay and the depletion of natural resources have set us on a pathway toward good green practices in both chemistry and biotechnology. Today, thousands of scientific reports focus on the recovery of bioactives or on the formulation of regenerative foods from waste. Also, the emergent diffusion of novel foods with well-established nutraceuticals represents a hot topic of investigation. Notably, the spread of “conscious” diet regimens, such as veganism, contributes to an urge for scientific activity. In this scenario, analytical chemistry is a mandatory and unique tool in synergy with other disciplines that can provide knowledge and support food safety. In this session, we aim to explore the latest advancements in the fields of elective techniques, such as chromatography, spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and sensors, applied to the analysis of food and beverages. Contributions based on the use of biotechnologies, microbiology, and fermentation chemistry will be highly welcome as well.