A note on the isolation of ergothioneine from blood.

THE methods employed by Hunter and Eagles [1925], by Benedict, Newton and Behre [1926], and by Benedict and Newton [1929] for the isolation of ergothioneine from blood are somewhat involved and expensive to apply. The authors have devised a technique (based on Hopkins's [1929] method for glutathione) which yields about 85 % of the ergothioneine present. The method involves three stages. (1) The extraction of the blood with dilute acid, and the subsequent coagulation and removal of the proteins. (2) The concentration of the solution in vacuo and aeration of the concentrate. (3) The precipitation and washing of the cuprous compound of ergothioneine, and its decomposition with H2S, followed by concentration of the aqueous solution. The whole-process can conveniently be carried out in three days, and, if it be desired, glutathione can be recovered from the liquid filtered from the cuprous compound of ergothioneine.