Levels of purine bases (adenine, guanine, hypoxanthine, and xanthine) were determined in 29 species of mushroom fruit body and mycelia from the Taiwan. Changes in purine-related compounds of mushroom during storage and cooking were investigated. Freeze-dried were hydrolyzed with water-trifluoroacetic acid-formic acid (1:5:5, v/v/v) at 120 ∘ C for 30 min for the quantitative liberation of bases from nucleic acids. Purine bases were then analyzed by reverse-phase liquid chromatography. The results indicated that total purine amounts in most mushroom fruit body were higher than mushroom mycelia. The principal purine bases were xanthine and adenine, and xanthine content was the highest in fruit body. The principal purine bases were hypoxanthine and adenine, and hypoxanthine content was the highest in mycelia. The purine content of mushroom differed depending on species, part, storage and cooking, which could be recommended for consumers as a healthy diet, especially for people with hyperuricemia and gout. Index Terms-purine, mushroom, HPLC, storage, cooking II. MATERIALS AND METHODS A. Standards and Chemicals Standards were obtained from Sigma Chemical Company (St. Louis, MO, USA). The purines used in this study were adenine, guanine, hypoxanthine, and xanthine, which were chromatography-grade and all assayed at more than 98% purity. Potassium acetate, trimethylamine, trifluoroacetic acid, and formic acid were purchased from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany); they were all guaranteed reagents (GR). B. Mushroom Collection Totally, 29 species of mushrooms were used and categorized into edible and medicinal mushrooms. Nineteen species of mushroom fruiting bodies, including
