Abstract
In this study, we characterized and quantified vitamin B12 in canned apple snails, escargots, (boiled plain) using a microbiological assay based on Lactobacillus delbrueckii ATCC 7830. Vitamin B12 contents of canned escargots (boiled plain) were varied from approximately 0.8 μg/100g weight to approximately 5.5 μg/100g weight (mean values, 2.2 μg/100g weight). We identified vitamin B12 compounds from escargots using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization/tandem mass spectrometry. We found that escargots contained true vitamin B12 and two inactive corrinoids, which were identified as factor IIIm (or methoxymensimidazolyl cyanocobamide), and factor S (or 2-methylmercaptoadenyl cyanocobamide). These results indicate that canned escargots (boiled plain) are not good sources of vitamin B12 for humans.
Highlights
Various species of edible land snails are consumed as apple snails worldwide
The vitamin B12 compounds were extracted from the sample by boiling at pH 4.5 and assayed using a microbiological method based on L. delbrueckii ATCC 7830, according to a previously described method [4]
We analyzed the vitamin B12 contents of canned escargots that are available in Japan using the L. delbrueckii ATCC 7830 microbiological assay method (Table 1)
Summary
Various species of edible land snails are consumed as apple snails (or escargots) worldwide. (2015) Occurrence of Biologically Inactive Corrinoid Compounds in Canned Edible Apple Snails (Escargots). The usual dietary sources of vitamin B12 are animal food products (i.e., meat, milk, egg, fish, and shellfish) [2]. Shellfish that siphon large quantities of vitamin B12-synthesizing bacteria from seawater and freshwater is excellent sources of vitamin B12 [2] [3]. These vitamin B12-synthesizing bacteria can synthesize other corrinoids with a different base moiety in the lower ligand of the molecule [4]. Little information is available on the vitamin B12 contents of apple snails (or escargots) and on whether these contain vitamin B12 or pseudovitamin B12, which is biologically inactive in humans. We describe determination of the vitamin B12 contents of canned escargots (boiled plain) and characterization of their vitamin B12 compounds to evaluate whether they are good sources of vitamin B12
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