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A research group led by Senior Assistant Professor Fukuuchi and Associate Professor Saegusa has revealed using mass spectrometry imaging that the sticky part of natto contains high concentrations of purines.Itabashi Campus

On Tuesday, November 18, 2025, a research group led by Senior Assistant Professor Tomoko Fukuuchi of the Teikyo University School Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Associate Professor Daisuke Saegusa of the same school, in a joint study with the University of Turin (Italy), analyzed the purines contained in the sticky part of natto and found that high concentrations of adenosine and guanosine were detected.

Until now, it was thought that the purines contained in natto were released in large amounts into the soybeans during the fermentation process. Senior Assistant Professor Fukuuchi and Associate Professor Saegusa first quantified the purines contained in natto using a proprietary HPLC-UV purine analysis method they developed. Next, they created frozen sections of natto containing the sticky part ^* using conductive adhesive film (Kawamoto method), and by utilizing mass spectrometry imaging, they were the first in the world to reveal that among purine molecules, adenosine and guanosine are found in particularly high concentrations in the sticky part. The results of this research will be useful for nutritional management and disease prevention by devising ways to eat natto and other intake methods, and it is expected that mass spectrometry imaging will also be applied to visualizing the components contained in other foods.

本成果は、11月19日（水）に国際科学誌 Food Chemistryにオンライン掲載されました（オープンアクセス化支援事業の支援を受けました）。なお、共同筆頭著者であるAlex Affricano氏は、本学大学院薬学研究科の留学生（2024年9月～12月：博士課程）です。

• * The sticky part of natto is thought to be made up of polyglutamic acid, which is a combination of many glutamic acids produced by natto bacteria breaking down soy protein.

国際科学誌 Food Chemistryへの掲載内容はこちら
福内友子講師についてはこちら
三枝大輔准教授についてはこちら

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