{"title":"Occurrence and characterization of vitamin B12 compounds in traditional Japanese sweet \"kuzu-mochi\" made from fermented wheat starch.","authors":"Fumio Watanabe, Kyohei Koseki, Tomohiro Bito","doi":"10.1093/bbb/zbaf113","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study presents the first detailed evidence that commercially available kuzu-mochi products-a traditional Japanese sweet made from fermented wheat starch-are a natural source of vitamin B12 compounds. Microbiological assays and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analyses confirmed the presence of vitamin B12 and its analog (pseudovitamin B12) across all tested samples, along with minor corrinoid compounds. Significant variability in vitamin B12 content was noted at approximately 25-152 ng/100 g wet weight, which was probably associated with differences in fermentation-derived microbial communities. Although kuzu-mochi cannot be a primary source of vitamin B12, its role as a supplementary dietary source is remarkable. These findings shed new light on the nutritional potential of traditional fermented foods.</p>","PeriodicalId":9175,"journal":{"name":"Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry","volume":" ","pages":"1488-1498"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/bbb/zbaf113","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study presents the first detailed evidence that commercially available kuzu-mochi products-a traditional Japanese sweet made from fermented wheat starch-are a natural source of vitamin B12 compounds. Microbiological assays and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analyses confirmed the presence of vitamin B12 and its analog (pseudovitamin B12) across all tested samples, along with minor corrinoid compounds. Significant variability in vitamin B12 content was noted at approximately 25-152 ng/100 g wet weight, which was probably associated with differences in fermentation-derived microbial communities. Although kuzu-mochi cannot be a primary source of vitamin B12, its role as a supplementary dietary source is remarkable. These findings shed new light on the nutritional potential of traditional fermented foods.
期刊介绍:
Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry publishes high-quality papers providing chemical and biological analyses of vital phenomena exhibited by animals, plants, and microorganisms, the chemical structures and functions of their products, and related matters. The Journal plays a major role in communicating to a global audience outstanding basic and applied research in all fields subsumed by the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry (JSBBA).