Y. Murata et al., Determination of a novel bitter amino acid, pulcherrimine, in the gonad ofthe green sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus, FISHERIES S, 67(2), 2001, pp. 341-345
A novel bitter amino acid, pulcherrimine was analyzed by reverse-phase high
-performance liquid chromatography using a linear gradient elution consisti
ng of methanol/aqueous/acetic acid and methanol/acetic acid mixture, after
being labeled with dimethylaminoazobenzenesulfonyl chloride (Dabs-Cl). Line
arity of the calibration curve for pulcherrimine was high (r=0.994) in the
tested range from 0 to 4 mug/mL. By this method, the pulcherrimine content
in the ovary and testis of the green sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus,
collected in the sea off Iwaki in November 1998, was analyzed. The mean pu
lcherrimine content in the ovary was 1.37 mg/100 g. In contrast, no pulcher
rimine was detected in all testes examined. Correlation between the bittern
ess and the pulcherrimine content was statistically significant. These resu
lts strongly support that pulcherrimine is a bitter principle in the green
sea urchin ovaries.