Editorial

6 0 th Birthday of Professor Dr. Peter Schreier

When we were asked to write an apprecia- th tion for the 60 birthday of Professor Pe-

ter Schreier we agreed immediately. How- ever, we did not realise the difficulty of adequately honouring a person who has so decisively affected our scientific ca- reers.

Peter Schreier was born o n 18 th July 1942 in Bromberg (formerly West- preul3en) and grew up in the Saarland. He took his Abitur in 1961 at the humanistic secondary school in St. Ingbert and stu- died Pharmacy in Freiburg, a course com- prising a two-year trainee period at that time. After taking the pharmaceutical ex- amination he subsequently studied food chemistry at the University of Saarbrfick- en where he successfully completed the main examination for food chemists. His Ph.D. thesis was entitled "Biochemical and Chemical Characterisation of the Li-

poxygenase-lipoperoxidase System in Cer- eals (oats)" and was carried out at the Uni- versity of Karlsruhe in Prof. W. Hei- mann's group. Since then he has been fas- cinated by the lipoxygenase reaction: the formation of "green notes" and the oxida- tion of fatty acids both being important themes in his scientific work.

In 1971 he moved as a scientific re- search assistant to the Technical Univer- sity of Munich in Weihenstephan to Prof. Drawert's group, where he completed his Habilitation entitled "Gas chromatogra- phy-mass spectrometric investigation of aroma compounds from grapes, wines, model fermentations and beers" in the De- partment of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of Food. The period in Wei- henstephan was interrupted only once in order to visit the Department of Food Technology at the University of Guelph, Canada as visiting lecturer. Finally, in 1980 he was appointed to the newly estab- lished Chair of Food Chemistry at the University of Wtirzburg.

At first, Peter Schreier investigated the volatiles of numerous fruits by GC-MS and realised at an early stage the impor- tance of the analysis of chiral compounds for the assessment of food. For a long time, the hyphenated technique of capil- lary gas chromatography-mass spectro- metry (GC-MS) was the "work horse" in Schreier's group and the emotional com- mitment he applied using this technique is shown by the fact that the MAT 44, a used mass spectrometer which he brought with him to Wtirzburg in 1981 remained in the lab until last year, although the instrument could not compete with the new units due to sensitivity limitations. After the major components of the fruit aroma extracts had been identified he dedicated his subse- quent research to the characterisation of

metabolites, e.g. hydroxylated and glyco- sylated derivatives. For this, as for the de- tection of food contaminants (heterocyclic aromatic amines), pharmacologically ac- tive substances (Benzodiazepine) and other polar compounds the HPLC-MS- MS proved to be a very versatile tool. If we had to encompass his widely scattered in- terests under a single title the theme "Ana- lytical Natural Product Chemistry" would cover most of his fields of activity, as illu- strated on his internet page (www.pzlc. uni-wuerzburg.de/lmcroot.htm). In addi- tion to the natural product analysis by multi-dimensional techniques, Schreier's group used biocatalysis and biotransfor- mation at an early stage for synthesis of natural compounds. In 1986 lipases were already employed in organic solvents for the production of fruit esters. In the mean- time, the repertoire of biocatalysis com- prises the enzymes: lipase, peroxidase, al- pha-oxidase, glycosidase as well as chemi- cally-modified enzymes such as seleno- subtilisin. This research was intensively supported by SFB 347 to which he has con- tributed since 1992. More than 50 Ph.D. students, 4 Habilitanden and ca. 400 scien- tific publications testify to his innovative ideas and diligence. His knowledge and ex- perience are not only in demand by indus- try but also at the Senate Commission on Food Safety (SKLM) of the Deutsche For- schungsgemeinschaft, where he has been a member for several years.

During his scientific career Peter Schre- ier always succeeded by using his powers of persuasion, his negotiating skills and the multitude of third-party funds to fi- nance present-day, analytical instruments from which the entire group and especially the Habilitanden have benefited greatly. Additionally, Peter Schreier has made a name for himself as organiser of numerous

Editorial Chromatographia 2002, 56, July (No. 1/2) 7

congresses, as editor of symposium series and books. Titles such as "Lebensmittel- R6mpp ' , "Analysis of Chiral Organic Molecules", "Natural Product Analysis", "Bioflavor 95", "Progress in Flavor Pre- cursor Studies", "Bioflavor '87", "Topics in Flavor Research", "Chromatographic Studies of Biogenesis of Plant Volatiles' , "Analysis of Volatiles" and "Flavor '81" demonstrate his preference for volatile, aromatic natural products.

The subject of "Functional Food" has also been approached by Schreier. During the most recent years studies on the char- acterisation of physiologically active nat- ural products were started. Guided by biotests such as the Benzodiazepine-recep- tor binding assay, substances were iso- lated, characterised by state-of-the-art analysis and tested for biological activity in cooperation with medically orientated groups.

Finally, an anecdote emphasising his always youthful and friendly character should not be overlooked. Once, the re- cently appointed C4-professor attended the Christmas party in Wfirzburg for the first time, organised by the food chemistry students. At the bar he started a conversa- tion with a young student in the first seme- ster. Since he had started his employment at the University of Wfirzburg only shortly beforehand she did not know him. After they chatted animatedly for several minutes the student became impressed by the range of knowledge of her conversa- tional partner and she asked him curiously in which semester he was.

Although this story will probably not occur again, not because he has lost his charisma but because he makes himself scarce at Christmas parties, it shows the friendly and companionable contact of teachers and students in the study of Food

Chemistry in Wfirzburg, whose atmo- sphere was, and is, decisively reflected by him.

Peter Schreier remained loyal to Wfirz- burg as he turned down an appointment to the Chair of Chemical-Technical Ana- lysis of the Technical University in Mu- nich.

We wish him well for the future. Happy Birthday Prof. Dr. Peter

Schreier!

W. Schwab

H.-U. Humpf

8 Chromatographia 2002, 56, July (No. 1/2) Editorial