Characterization of corrinoid compounds from a Japanese black tea (Batabata-cha) fermented by bacteria.

A Japanese fermented black tea (Batabata-cha) contained a considerable amount of vitamin B(12) (456 +/- 39 ng per 100 g dry tea leaves and 2.0 +/- 0.3 ng per 100 mL of tea drink). A corrinoid compound was partially purified and characterized from the tea leaves. The patterns of the purified compound by the silica gel 60 thin-layer chromatography and C18 reversed phased high-performance liquid chromatography were identical to those of authentic vitamin B(12). When 20 week old vitamin B(12) deficient rats, which excreted substantial amounts (about 250 mg/day) of methylmalonic acid in urine as an index of vitamin B(12) deficiency, were fed the tea drink (50 mL/day, 1 ng of vitamin B(12)) for 6 weeks, urinary methylmalonic acid excretion (169 +/- 29 mg/day) of the tea drink-supplemented 26 week old rats decreased significantly relative to that (250 +/- 32 mg/day) of the deficient rats. The results indicate that the vitamin B(12) found in the fermented black tea is bioavailable in mammals.

Occurrence of vitamin B12 in green, blue, red, and black tea leaves.

Vitamin B12 contents of green (0.046-0.263 and 0.125-0.535 microg/100 g dry weight), blue (0.068-0.081 and 0.525-0.528 microg/l00 g dry weight), red (0.061 and 0.663 microg/100 g dry weight), and black (0.104-0.859 and 0.305-1.20 microg/100 dry weight) tea leaves were obtained by intrinsic factor-chemiluminescence and microbiological methods, respectively. Although vitamin B12 was found in all tea leaves tested by both assay methods, the higher values by the microbiological method were not due to occurrence of both deoxyribosides and deoxynucleotides (known as an alkali-resistant factor), but may have been due to that of inactive corrinoid compounds for mammals in the tea leaves.

Purification and characterization of a corrinoid compound from Chlorella tablets as an algal health food.

Vitamin B(12) content of an algal health food, Chlorella tablets (Chlorella sp.), was determined by both Lactobacillus leichmannii ATCC 7830 microbiological and intrinsic factor-chemiluminescence methods. The values of 200.9-211.6 microg/100 g dry weight determined by the chemiluminescence method were similar to the values (201.3-285.7 microg/100 g dry weight) determined by the microbiological method. A corrinoid compound was purified to homogeneity from the Chlorella tablets and characterized. The purified corrinoid compound was identified as vitamin B12, on the basis of silica gel 60 TLC, C18 reversed-phase HPLC, 1H NMR spectroscopy, and UV-Vis spectroscopy.

Characterization and bioavailability of vitamin B12-compounds from edible algae.

Substantial amounts of vitamin B12 were found in some edible algae (green and purple lavers) and algal health food (chlorella and spirulina tablets) using the Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis ATCC7830 microbiological assay method. Corrinoid-compounds were purified and characterized from these algae to clarify the chemical properties and bioavailability of the algal vitamin B12. True vitamin B12 is the predominate cobamide of green and purple lavers and chlorella tablets. Feeding the purple laver to vitamin B12-deficient rats significantly improved the vitamin B12 status. The results suggest that algal vitamin B12 is a bioavailable source for mammals. Pseudovitamin B12 (an inactive corrinoid) predominated in the spirulina tablets, which are not suitable for use as a vitamin B12 source, especially for vegetarians. algal health food, bioavailability, cobalamin, edible algae, vitamin B12