Determination of four different purines and their content change in seafood by high-performance liquid chromatography

Seafood is regarded as a high-purine food that may induce gout, which has attracted extensive attention concerning its safety. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a simple and reliable method to determine the purine content in seafood and its change during storage to offer consumers healthy diet information.

Chromatographic separation was carried out using Waters Atlantis dC₁₈ column, and potassium phosphate monobasic solution (0.02 mol L^-1 , pH 3.6) as a mobile phase. The average recovery yields of four purines were 91.5-105.0%, and relative standard deviation values were around 1.8-6.5%. Shrimp and snail contained higher amounts of purine than fish and bivalves; the livers and skins of fish contained higher amounts of purine than muscles; and the main purine varied depending on the type of seafood. Also, purine content of seafood changed during storage.

The purine content of seafood differed depending on species, body part and degree of freshness, which could recommend consumers a healthy diet, especially for people with hyperuricemia and gout. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.