Edgar Charles Bate-Smith (?-1989[1]) was an English chemist and phytochemist specialising in food chemistry. He worked in the Low Temperature Research Station in Cambridge where his main fields of research were meat[2] and polyphenols.
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.[3]
In 1973, he suggested an assay based on the precipitation of hemoglobin by tannins.[4]
Bate-Smith has been awarded the food technology Bor S. Luh International Award in 1964.