Determination and characterization of vitamin B12 compounds in edible sea snails, ivory shell Babylonia japonica and turban shell Turdo Batillus cornutus

摘要

In this study, we characterized and quantified vitamin B12 compounds in popular edible snails Babylonia japonica and Turdo Batillus cornutus using a microbiological assay based on Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis ATCC 7830. The meat and viscera of B. japonica contained 27.2?±?9.1 and 92.8?±?25.8?μg of vitamin B12 per 100?g, respectively. However, the meat and viscera of T. cornutus contained extremely low amounts of vitamin B12 (3.0?±?1.5 and 15.1?±?8.3?μg of vitamin B12 per 100?g, respectively). We identified the vitamin B12 compounds from the edible portions (meat and viscera) of B. japonica and T. cornutus using liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization/tandem mass spectrometry. We found that B. japonica contained substantial amounts of true vitamin B12, while pseudovitamin B12 was the predominant corrinoid in T. cornutus. These results indicate that the meat and viscera of B. japonica are excellent sources of vitamin B12 for humans.