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Identification of vitamin B12 and pseudovitamin B12 from various edible shellfish using liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization/tandem mass spectrometry

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  • Chemistry and Biochemistry
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Abstract

In this study, the vitamin B12 contents were analyzed in the edible portions of various shellfish (bivalves and snails). High vitamin B12 contents (30.5–53.3 μg/100 g wet weight) were detected in mussels, surf clams, bloody clams, and freshwater clams. However, scallops and abalone had extremely low vitamin B12 contents (0.1–1.1 μg/100 g wet weight) which was attributed to only the muscle portions being edible. These results suggest that high levels of vitamin B12 are accumulated in the viscera of shellfish. Vitamin B12 levels were also significantly higher in bivalves than in snails. The corrinoid compounds purified from all bivalves were identified as “true” vitamin B12 using liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization/tandem mass spectrometry. In edible snails, abalone, and pond snails, however, both vitamin B12 and pseudovitamin B12 (an inactive corrinoid) were observed to be the major and minor corrinoid compounds, respectively. Based on these results, we conclude that the whole bodies of these edible bivalves are excellent sources of vitamin B12 for humans.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Mr. T. Noguchi for his technical assistance. This work was supported partly by a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) (No. 24700856) from JSPS KAKENHI (YT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, Junior College of Tokyo University of Agriculture, Setagayaku, 156-8502, Japan

    Yuri Tanioka & Tadasu Furusho

  2. Department of Veterinary Science, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Izumisano, 598-8531, Japan

    Shigeo Takenaka

  3. School of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, Tottori, 680-8553, Japan

    Yukinori Yabuta & Fumio Watanabe

  4. Department of Life Science, Osaka Women’s Junior College, Fujiidera, 583-8558, Japan

    Yoshihisa Nakano

Authors
  1. Yuri Tanioka
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  2. Shigeo Takenaka
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  3. Tadasu Furusho
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  4. Yukinori Yabuta
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  5. Yoshihisa Nakano
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  6. Fumio Watanabe
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Correspondence to Yuri Tanioka.

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Tanioka, Y., Takenaka, S., Furusho, T. et al. Identification of vitamin B12 and pseudovitamin B12 from various edible shellfish using liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization/tandem mass spectrometry. Fish Sci 80, 1065–1071 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-014-0787-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-014-0787-x

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