Isolation and characterization of natural melanin derived from silky fowl ( Gallus gallus domesticus Brisson)

• Published in: Food chemistry Vol. 111; no. 3; pp. 745 - 749
• Main Authors: Chen, Si-Rui, Jiang, Bin, Zheng, Jiang-Xia, Xu, Gui-Yun, Li, Jun-Yin, Yang, Ning
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2008; [Amsterdam]: Elsevier Science; Elsevier
• Subjects: animal tissue extracts; Biological and medical sciences; chemical structure; chicken breeds; chickens; elements; Eumelanin; extraction; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Melanin; melanosomes; Morphology; muscles; ovaries; periosteum; physicochemical properties; Physicochemical property; proximate composition; Silky fowl; silky fowl (chicken breed); skin; testes; trachea (vertebrates); yields; Silky fowl; Eumelanin; Physicochemical property; Morphology; Melanin; Characterization; Isolation; Natural; Melanin,Eumelanin,Silky fowl,Physicochemical property,Morphology; Physicochemical properties
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.04.053

Water-insoluble melanins derived from silky fowl (SF-melanin) were isolated using an enzymatic extraction procedure. The yields of the pigments from periosteum, ovary or testis, trachea, skin and muscle, were 21.3, 13.7, 10.2, 1.1, and 1.0 mg/g, respectively, on a fresh tissue basis. The isolated pigments were identified as melanins according to the Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy spectra. Using synthetic melanin as a calibration, their physicochemical and morphological properties were further characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and advanced imaging technology. Elemental composition analysis by XPS revealed that the main component of the SF-melanin was eumelanin. The morphological study showed that (1) the SF-melanin displayed ellipsoidal melanosomes which was regarded as representative of the natural material; and (2) the SF-melanin maintained its natural integrity. In conclusion, our enzymatic extraction method yielded highly purified products while maintaining the natural properties of the SF-melanin, which could be chemically, physically, morphologically, defined as eumelanin.