Tony Swain (1922–1987) was a chemist known for his definition of a plant polyphenol with Bate-Smith, Haslam and White, which includes specific structural characteristics common to all phenolics having a tanning property. It is referred to as the White–Bate-Smith–Swain–Haslam (WBSSH) definition.
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. There was an explosion of activity in this field after 1945, none more so than that of Bate-Smith and Tony Swain. He worked with Edgar C. Bate-Smith at Cambridge University.
Tony Swain was one of the first editors of with Jeffrey Harborne. He started the sister journal Biochemical Systematics in 1973, renamed Biochemical Systematics and Ecology in the next year.