Murata Y, Sata N U
National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, 2-12-4, Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama 236-8648, Japan.
J Agric Food Chem. 2000 Nov;48(11):5557-60. doi: 10.1021/jf0004917.
A novel sulfur-containing amino acid, pulcherrimine, has been isolated as a bitter principle from ovaries of the sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus. The structure was elucidated as 4-(2'-carboxy-2'-hydroxy-ethylthio)-2-piperidinecarboxylic acid by spectroscopic and chemical methods. Absolute stereochemistry was determined by NOE experiments and chiral HPLC analysis. Pulcherrimine exhibited bitterness with a threshold value of 0.306 mM.
