Guidelines for purine extraction and determination in foods

Abstract

Abstract With the improvement of living standards over the years, the demand for “delicious food” has been increasing rapidly. Accordingly, the hidden risks associated with these kinds of food have gradually been attracting attention and purines have especially become of great interest. Food‐derived purines are one of the important sources of purine in the body. Eventually, it is metabolized by the body to produce uric acid, which may lead to hyperuricemia and gout. Thus, detecting the purine content in foods could be a significant guidance for dietary intake. Here, this article reviews purine pretreatment and detection methods as well as the purine content of common foods. Perchloric acid hydrolysis and high‐performance liquid chromatography were found to be the most commonly used pretreatment and quantification methods in purine detection. In addition, total purine content was in the order of plant foods < fungus and algae foods < animal foods < aquatic products. This reenforces the suggestion that, for individuals with hyperuricemia and gout, fewer or none intake of aquatic products and animal foods and increase intake of plant and fungal and algae foods may be a healthier option.

Keywords

• determination
• food
• pretreatment
• purine