Bruno Steiner Lab Consultancy At SAAB Conference 2024
South African Association of Botanists (SAAB) Conference 2024 was hosted at Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal from 7-11 January 2024 at The University of Zululand, Department of Agriculture in association with the Department of Botany.
The 49th SAAB Conference theme was: ‘Ukunakekela Umhlaba Ukuze Usimamise Okukhulayo’ (‘Nurturing the Earth for Sustainable Growth’), which encapsulates the colossal, intrinsic value of nurturing the earth.
The SAAB annual conference has been sustained for over 40 years – founded in 1976, the inaugural conference was held in Pretoria in 1978. Thereafter, the conference has been conducted within South Africa in several locations, thus providing an opportunity for plant science researchers, students, and professionals to collaborate in discussion to share their research findings, exchange ideas, and cooperate on new initiatives.
At The University of Zululand, The Department of Agriculture, in conjunction with the Department of Botany, were thrilled to host this prestigious conference for the first time. The conference focused on a range of topics impacting on African and South African plant science research.
Top Image: Mrs Yvonne Steiner and Guest Speaker Prof Karel Doležal (Senior Researcher, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic)
Bottom Left Image: Mrs Yvonne Steiner and Prof Nontuthuko Rosemary Ntuli (Host of SAAB Conference 2024, Department of Botany, University of Zululand)
Bottom Right Image: Mrs Yvonne Steiner and Presenter Dr Nqobile Masondo (Researcher, Agricultural Research
Council)
Bruno Steiner Lab Consultancy (BSLC) was honoured to be given an opportunity to exhibit its product offerings. The key products within this conference were the CAMAG fully automated TLC/HPTLC for Plant Analysis (Medicinal Plants) and the AIS (Advion-Interchim Scientific) Compact Mass Spectrometer (CMS). HPTLC is fairly simple, inexpensive, rapid, extremely flexible and provides visual results (not only peaks) such as colour to determine the compounds found within plants. Fingerprinting is also a key functionality within CAMAG TLC/HPTLC for comparative identification of the raw materials, extracts and finished products. The TLC/HPTLC system can be connected to AIS CMS to determine the m/z ratio of the component of interest.
All participants and guests of the SAAB Conference 2024 were spoiled with a game drive within Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve. Well done to The University of Zululand for hosting a successful SAAB Conference 2024.
