Purification method for the isolation of monophosphate nucleotides from Champagne wine and their identification by mass spectrometry

Monophosphate nucleotides are difficult to identify in Champagne wine because they are present in small concentrations in a complex mixture. A method for the isolation, separation and identification of reference compounds, which achieved on average 79% recovery (except for cytidine derivatives), was developed and applied to wine. Some monophosphate nucleotides were then isolated from a Champagne wine aged on lees for 8 years, by ultrafiltration followed by a semi-preparative HPLC step using a strong anion-exchange column. The fraction obtained was subjected to HPLC in a reversed-phase column to remove the salt previously introduced, before identification of compounds by HPLC coupled to a mass spectrometer. For the first time in wine, 5′-IMP, 5′-AMP, 5′-CMP, 5′-GMP, 5′-UMP and the 3′- and/or 2′-isomers of the four latter compounds were identified by comparing their HPLC and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry data with those of reference nucleotides.