Chemical analysis of flotsam ambergris.
The natural product ambergris is only found rarely on beaches, as jetsam. Even more scarce, or even absent, are accounts of flotsam ambergris. Here, we report the chemical analysis of a rare, large piece (>100kg) of flotsam found in the Atlantic in 2019. About 95% of subsamples from the outside o...
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ftpubmed:38946693 2024-09-15T18:30:30+00:00 Chemical analysis of flotsam ambergris. Rowland, Steven J Sutton, Paul A Lewis, C Anthony Knowles, Timothy Wilde, Michael J Alves, Filipe Clough, Robert 2024 Jul 01 https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2024.2361863 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38946693 eng eng Atypon https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2024.2361863 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38946693 Nat Prod Res ISSN:1478-6427 Ambergris Physeter macrocephalus ambrein atlantic copper flotsam squid Journal Article 2024 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2024.2361863 2024-07-01T16:01:00Z The natural product ambergris is only found rarely on beaches, as jetsam. Even more scarce, or even absent, are accounts of flotsam ambergris. Here, we report the chemical analysis of a rare, large piece (>100kg) of flotsam found in the Atlantic in 2019. About 95% of subsamples from the outside of the coprolith was soluble in dichloromethane. Of this, FTIR spectroscopy, APCI-MS and GC-MS indicated the presence of ambrein. Radiocarbon dating indicated that the sample was post 1950s in age. The 13C/12C isotope ratio (-22.5 ‰) was typical of those reported to date for whale 'body' ambergris. Metals of ambergris have hardly been reported previously. The distribution found here for the flotsam, was dominated by copper and zinc, which is similar to that of several squid species. This is also consistent with the presence of squid beaks in the coprolith. Squid are a major prey species of sperm whales. Article in Journal/Newspaper Physeter macrocephalus PubMed Central (PMC) Natural Product Research 1 5 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Ambergris Physeter macrocephalus ambrein atlantic copper flotsam squid |
spellingShingle |
Ambergris Physeter macrocephalus ambrein atlantic copper flotsam squid Rowland, Steven J Sutton, Paul A Lewis, C Anthony Knowles, Timothy Wilde, Michael J Alves, Filipe Clough, Robert Chemical analysis of flotsam ambergris. |
topic_facet |
Ambergris Physeter macrocephalus ambrein atlantic copper flotsam squid |
description |
The natural product ambergris is only found rarely on beaches, as jetsam. Even more scarce, or even absent, are accounts of flotsam ambergris. Here, we report the chemical analysis of a rare, large piece (>100kg) of flotsam found in the Atlantic in 2019. About 95% of subsamples from the outside of the coprolith was soluble in dichloromethane. Of this, FTIR spectroscopy, APCI-MS and GC-MS indicated the presence of ambrein. Radiocarbon dating indicated that the sample was post 1950s in age. The 13C/12C isotope ratio (-22.5 ‰) was typical of those reported to date for whale 'body' ambergris. Metals of ambergris have hardly been reported previously. The distribution found here for the flotsam, was dominated by copper and zinc, which is similar to that of several squid species. This is also consistent with the presence of squid beaks in the coprolith. Squid are a major prey species of sperm whales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rowland, Steven J Sutton, Paul A Lewis, C Anthony Knowles, Timothy Wilde, Michael J Alves, Filipe Clough, Robert |
author_facet |
Rowland, Steven J Sutton, Paul A Lewis, C Anthony Knowles, Timothy Wilde, Michael J Alves, Filipe Clough, Robert |
author_sort |
Rowland, Steven J |
title |
Chemical analysis of flotsam ambergris. |
title_short |
Chemical analysis of flotsam ambergris. |
title_full |
Chemical analysis of flotsam ambergris. |
title_fullStr |
Chemical analysis of flotsam ambergris. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Chemical analysis of flotsam ambergris. |
title_sort |
chemical analysis of flotsam ambergris. |
publisher |
Atypon |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2024.2361863 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38946693 |
genre |
Physeter macrocephalus |
genre_facet |
Physeter macrocephalus |
op_source |
Nat Prod Res ISSN:1478-6427 |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2024.2361863 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38946693 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2024.2361863 |
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Natural Product Research |
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5 |
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1810471962600800256 |