IDENTIFICATION OF NONPROTEIN AMINO-ACIDS FROM CYCAD SEEDS AS N-ETHOXYCARBONYL ETHYL-ESTER DERIVATIVES BY POSITIVE CHEMICAL-IONIZATION GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY

Citation
M. Pan et al., IDENTIFICATION OF NONPROTEIN AMINO-ACIDS FROM CYCAD SEEDS AS N-ETHOXYCARBONYL ETHYL-ESTER DERIVATIVES BY POSITIVE CHEMICAL-IONIZATION GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY, Journal of chromatography, 787(1-2), 1997, pp. 288-294
Citations number
13
Journal title
Volume
787
Issue
1-2
Year of publication
1997
Pages
288 - 294
Database
ISI
SICI code
Abstract
Nonprotein amino acids from nine species of cycad seeds were analyzed as N-ethoxycarbonyl ethyl ester (ECEE) derivatives by positive chemica l-ionization gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Based on the retent ion times and mass spectrometry analyses, 12 nonprotein amino acids we re identified in these seeds. In addition to the excitatory and putati ve neurotoxin beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), the known neurotoxi n beta-N-oxalylamino-L-alanine (BOAA) was detected from the seeds of M acrozamia moorei and M. communis, and delta-N-oxalyl-ornithine was obt ained from the Cycas revoluta seeds. A novel nonprotein amino acid nam ed cycasindene, previously reported from C. revoluta, was also found i n the seeds of members of the C. angulata and C. rumphii complex, Eigh t additional known nonprotein amino acids were also identified. This i s the first report of the neurotoxin BOAA from cycad seeds. (C) 1997 E lsevier Science B.V.