Edgar Charles Bate-Smith CBE (1900–1989[1]) was an English chemist and phytochemist specialising in food chemistry.
The discovery in 1943 by Martin and Synge of paper chromatography provided for the first time the means of surveying the phenolic constituents of plants and for their separation and identification.
[1] In 1951, Bate-Smith developed and first described a coloration method to detect the presence of condensed tannins (also called proanthocyanidins) in plant materials.
This reaction is based on heating in acidic conditions and gives rise to anthocyanidin pigments.
Bate-smith recommended the use of the Forestal solvent for the isolation of leuco-anthocyanins in 1954.