Purification and characterisation of aquamarine blue pigment from the shells of abalone (Haliotis discus hannai Ino).

Aquamarine blue pigment (ABP) from the shells of abalone (Haliotis discus hannai Ino) was extracted using a precipitation adsorption method and further purified via semi-preparative HPLC. The ABP with molecular weight of 582.8 was identified as a polyenic compound by NMR. The colour value of ABP was E1cm(1%)612nm=534.3. ABP can dissolve in water, ethanol, methanol, acetic acid and DMSO but was scarcely soluble in chloroform, aether, acetone, petroleum ether and cyclohexane. ABP was relatively stable between 25 and 100°C, from pH 2 to pH 12, under UV-light and indoor natural light. However, it was bleached by H2O2 and Na2SO3 and even unstable under sunlight. The stability of ABP was slightly influenced by metal ions (Ca(2+), Cu(2+), Fe(2+) and so on) and food addictives (sodium chloride, sugar, starch and so on). This is the first report on the characterisation of pigment obtained from Haliotis discus hannai Ino.