Calculations are conducted to demonstrate that chiral nanotubes used in a resonator configuration can discriminate the enantiomers and diastereoisomers of chiral molecules through their different dielectric properties. Application to amino acids adsorbed on various single walled nanotubes with different sizes and chiral angles gives the conditions for optimum detection and selectivity. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.