Chromatography help?

[MinVin]

I would appreciate a little help using/understanding how to use my chromatography kit. While it seems straightforward, I've tried twice and I'm either doing something wrong or I don't understand what I'm looking at. Here are the first two results:

The yellow spots don't seem to correspond with where I put the drops of standard solution or the wines. Plus, the spots streak together on the right, so I have no idea what I'm looking at. Any input? Am I doing something wrong or just misinterpreting what I'm seeing?

 

[PCharles]

Chromatography

MinVin, Does the kit have a web site or can you call their tech service. That might be the fastest way to get feedback. I've not used these kits yet, but I'm interested in this discussion.

Paul

 

[MinVin]

Yes, and I will call them later today to see what they can tell me. I figured I'd start here since everyone is so knowledgeable and helpful and since it would probably help others in the future.

 

[ibglowin]

Is this a morewine test kit?

 

[MinVin]

No, but a near identical one from The Grape and Granary.

 

[ibglowin]

Compare what you did to these instructions from More Wine and see if you did something different.

Sure doesn't look like the chromatogram on page 3 for sure.

 

[ibglowin]

Anyway you could post a larger image. Hard to make anything out at that resolution.

 

[MinVin]

Ok, I followed those directions almost exactly. HOWEVER, they made one thing much clearer than the directions that came with my kit and now I understand what I did wrong. Thanks!

Let me do another one this evening and I'll post those results tomorrow so I can better explain what I did wrong through the comparison. But, if you can't wait until tomorrow, I did a grid of drops instead of a single row. Ahhh, it's all so clear to me now that I don't know how I confused myself before!

PS. The forum would not let me upload a larger version of the image... I'll have to upload them elsewhere if you still need a higher resolution.

 

[MinVin]

I must say that the picture in the directions from morewine.com is worth at least a thousand words. The diagram that was provided in my kit didn't distinguish between my actions and the results of the process - so I assumed I had to put little droplets all over the page!

After a seeing the photo the whole process made so much more sense. Now that I haven't covered the entire paper with a matrix of wine droplets, everything worked as expected.

Clearly, the two reds undergoing MLF are nearly, if not fully, complete. Furthermore, it appears that my Pinot Grigio (last on right) has more tartaric acid than the rest.

 

[ibglowin]

Your on your way now! Great job!