Study on Contents of Tetramine in Salivary Gland, Meat and Internal Organs of Buccinid Gastropods (Mollusca)

The present study was carried out to clarify the content of tetramine in various Buccinid gastropods (Mollusca) on the market by ion chromatography.As a result of examination of 28 samples of 5 kinds of gastropods of the genus Neptunea, tetramine was detected in salivary gland of all of them. The highest value of the tetramine content in both N. arthritic and N. intersculpta were 6, 600μg/g. The total amount of tetramine in the shell was the most in large-sized N. constricta, at 37mg. In the case of N. lamellosa and N. intersculpta, tetramine was detected not only in salivary gland, but also in meat and internal organs. In 18 samples of 6 kinds of gastropods of the genus Buccinum, no tetramine was detected.The tetramine detected in the meat was identified by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and ESI mass spectrometry after TLC purification.These results suggest that gastropods containing a large amount of tetramine in the meat might cause poisoning even if the salivary gland was removed.