Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T16:47:32.125Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Physicochemical characterization of Sepia officinalis ink and the effects of storage conditions on the coagulation process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2008

A. Neifar ,
F. Ben Rebah ,
A. Gargouri  and
A. Abdelmouleh
A. Neifar
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Biotechnologie Marine, Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer, INSTM-Centre de Sfax, Tunisie
F. Ben Rebah*
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Biotechnologie Marine, Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer, INSTM-Centre de Sfax, Tunisie
A. Gargouri
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire des Eucaryotes, Centre de Biotechnologie de Sfax, Tunisie
A. Abdelmouleh
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Biotechnologie Marine, Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer, INSTM-Centre de Sfax, Tunisie
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: F. Ben Rebah, Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Biotechnologie Marine, Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer, INSTM-Centre de Sfax, Tunisie email: benrebahf@yahoo.fr
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Sepia officinalis produces a dark ink constituted of a suspension of melanin granules in a viscous colourless medium showing a large variability in composition. The examination of the spectra obtained by scanning electron microscopy of crude and the melanin-free ink showed slight variation in elemental composition related to the elimination of melanin substance after centrifugation. Ink elemental content varied also depending on the period of sampling. Temperature, light and oxygen can be considered as coagulation factors. Temperature around ambient temperature (e.g. 30°C) gave strong coagulation, while lower temperature (2–4°C), lack of oxygen and darkness greatly inhibited the ink coagulation process. Moreover, we showed that hydrogen peroxide activated the ink coagulation process and the coagulation rate depends on the amount of H2O2 added. Heat treatment (100°C for 5 minutes) of ink inhibited the coagulation. Interestingly, the addition of an adequate volume of fresh melanin-free ink to the heated sample activated significantly the coagulation process.

Keywords

Sepia officinalisinkmelanin-free inkcoagulationperoxidase
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 89 , Issue 4 , June 2009 , pp. 803 - 807
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

AOAC (1984) Official methods of analysis. 14th edition.Arlington, Virginia, USA: Association of Official Analytical Chemists.Google Scholar
d'Ischia, M., Napolitano, A. and Prota, G. (1991) Peroxidase as an alternative to tyrosinase in the oxidative polymerization of 5,6-dihydroxyindoles to melanin(s). Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1073, 423–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
El-Sayed, A.M., Riad, R. and Halim, Y. (1995) Seasonal variation in biochemical composition of Sepia officinalis (Mollusca) from the Mediterranean waters off Alexandria, Egypt. Oebalia 11, 171–176.Google Scholar
Flood, P.R., Deibel, D. and Morris, C.C. (1990) Visualisation of the transparent, gelatinous house of the pelagic tunicate Oikopleura vanhoeffeni using sepia ink Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole 178, 118–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanlon, R.T. and Messenger, J.B. (1996) Defence. In Hanlon, R.T. and Messenger, J.B. (eds.) Cephalopod behaviour. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 66–93.Google Scholar
Knicker, H., Almendros, G., Gonzàlez-Vila, F.J., Lüdemann, H.D. and Martin, F. (1995) C13 and N15 NMR analysis of some fungal melanins in comparison with soil organic matter. Organic Geochemistry 223, 1023–1028.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, Y. and Simon, J.D. (2005) Metal–ion interactions and the structural organization of Sepia eumelanin. Pigment Cell Research 18, 42–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mochizuki, A. (1979) An antiseptic effect of the cuttlefish ink. Bulletin of the Japanese Society of Scientific Fisheries 45, 1401–1403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicolaus, R.A., Bolognese, A., La Vecchia, A., Mazzoni, O., Nicolaus, B., Romano, I. and Nicolaus, G. (2004) Perspectives in melanin chemistry. Atti Accademia Pontaniana LIII, 415–441.Google Scholar
Nofsinger, J.B., Weinert, E.E. and Simon, J.D. (1999) Explanation for the disparity among absorption and action spectra of eumelanin. Journal Physical Chemistry 103, 11428–11432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ortonne, J.P., Voulot, C., Khatchadourian, C., Palumbo, A. and Prota, A. (1981) A reexamination of melanogenesis in the ink gland of cephalopods. In Seiji, M. (ed.) Phenotypic expression in pigment cells. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, pp. 49–47.Google Scholar
Pezzella, A., d'Ischia, M., Napolitaono, A., Palumbo, A. and Prota, G. (1997) An integrated approach to the structure of sepia melanin. Evidence for a high proportion of degraded 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid units in the pigment backbone. Tetrahedron 53, 8281–8286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prota, G. (1992) Melanin-producing cells. In Jovanovich, H.B. (ed.) Melanins and melanogenesis. San Diego: Academic Press, pp. 14–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prota, G., Ortonne, J.P., Voulot, C., Khatchadourian, C., Nardi, G. and Palumbo, A. (1981) Occurrence and properties of tyrosinase in the ejected ink of cephalopods. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 68, 415–419.Google Scholar
Shirai, T., Kikuchi, N., Matsuo, S., Inada, H., Suzuki, T. and Hirano, T. (1997) Extractive components of the squid ink. Fisheries Science 63, 772–778.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Takai, M.K., Yamazaki, Y., Kawai, N., Imoune, and Shirrano, H. (1993) Effect of squid liver, skin and ink on chemical characteristics of ‘ika-shiokara’ during ripening process. Bulletin of the Japanese Society of Scientific Fisheries 59, 1609–1615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Takaya, Y., Uchisawa, H., Matsue, H., Seiya, C., Okusaki, B., Narumi, F., Sasaki, J. and Ishida, K. (1994) An investigation of the antitumor peptidoglycan fraction from squid ink. Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin 17, 846–849.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed