Isolation of 3-Methyl Histidine from Whalemeat Extract and the Preparation of some Derivatives

Abstract

THE desire to be able to differentiate between beef extract and whalemeat extract in composite food products lead to an extensive investigation of these commodities. Among several significant differences observed was the presence, shown by chromatographic analysis, of an unusual di-peptide which occurred only in the whalemeat extract. This compound was discovered independently by Carisano and Carr๠and identified as a di-peptide of β-alanine and 3-methyl histidine by Pocchiari et al.², who ascribed to it a β-alanyl-3-methyl histidine structure. Whalemeat extract has been found to contain between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of this di-peptide and thus represents a rich source of 3-methyl histidine. In order to carry out a confirmatory synthesis (to be described elsewhere) of this di-peptide a supply of 3-methyl histidine was sought. This amino-acid is very rare, extremely expensive and no adequate supply could be found. Its isolation from whalemeat extract was therefore undertaken.