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Published on: June 25, 2010
Cobamide Fingerprints in Foods: A Molecular Framework for Re-Evaluating Dietary Vitamin B12 Sources
Fumio Watanabe1,2, Kyohei Koseki3, Tomohiro Bito2
1Tottori Study Center, The Open University of Japan, Tottori 680-0845, Japan.
Abstract:
Vitamin B12 is synthesized exclusively by certain bacteria and archaea and is generally absent from unfortified plant-derived foods. However, food composition data often rely on microbiological assays that lack chemical specificity and may overestimate nutritionally relevant vitamin B12 by detecting inactive corrinoids. This Perspective proposes cobamide fingerprinting, defined as the proportion of biologically active vitamin B12 (B12%) relative to total corrinoids, as a framework for evaluating dietary vitamin B12 sources. Foods with similar total corrinoid contents may differ substantially in nutritional value depending on cobamide composition, portion size, and consumption patterns.
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