Simultaneous Quantitation of Free Amino Acids, Nucleosides and Nucleobases in Sipunculus nudus by Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry

To evaluate the nutritional and functional value ofSipunculus nudus, a rapid, simple and sensitive analytical method was developed using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with a triple quadrupole mass detection in multiple-reaction monitoring mode for the simultaneous quantitative determination of 25 free amino acids and 16 nucleosides and nucleobases inS. nuduswithin 20 min, which was confirmed to be reproducible and accurate. The limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) were between 0.003–0.229 μg/mL and 0.008–0.763 μg/mL for the 41 analytes, respectively. The established method was applied to analyze 19 batches ofS. nudussamples from four habitats with two different processing methods. The results showed thatS. nuduscontained a variety of free amino acids, nucleosides and nucleobases in sufficient quantity and reasonable proportion. They also demonstrated that the contents of these compounds in different parts ofS. nuduswere significantly discriminating, which were in the order: (highest) coelomic fluid > body wall > intestine (lowest). The method is simple and accurate, and could serve as a technical support for establishing quality control ofS. nudusand other functional seafoods. Moreover, the research results also laid foundation for further exploitation and development ofS. nudus.Keywords:UPLC-TQ-MS/MS;Sipunculus nudus;free amino acid;nucleoside;nucleobase