Characterization of natural organic colorants in historical and art objects by high-performance liquid chromatography.

High-performance liquid chromatography plays an important role in analysis of historical organic colorants. A number of papers have been published in this field over the last 30 years. Classification of the most commonly used natural dyes and an overview of high-performance liquid chromatography methods with main focus on recent works (2008 to the beginning of 2014) are provided. The review deals with an entire analytical protocol covering sample preparation, chromatographic separation, and suitable detection (UV/visible and fluorescent spectroscopy and mass spectrometric techniques). High-performance liquid chromatography has been successfully used in the complete characterization of some organic dyestuffs present in historical and art objects. The possibilities and difficulties for identification of natural sources of historical colorants are also discussed.