ANEURINE (thiamine) 



to 0-2 ; brussels sprout, o-i8 ; tomato, o-i2 ; turnip, o-i2 ; water- 

 cress, o-i8 ; and potato,'' 0-09 to o-i8 mg. per 100 g. 



Cow's milk contains 0-03 to 0-07 mg. per 100 ml. ; cheese, o to 

 0-09 ; and egg yolk,^ 0-3 mg. per 100 g. About 60 % of the aneurine 

 in milk is in the free state. ^ Cow's colostrum contains o-o6 and ewe's 

 colostrimi and milk, o-ii and o-o6 mg. per 100 ml.i<> 



Muscle from various kinds of fish contains o-o6 to 0-12 and hard 

 roe, I to 2 mg. per 100 g. Soft roes contain much less (0-15 to 0-2 

 mg. per 100 g.). Beef contains 0-09 to 0-3 ; mutton, o-i8 ; pork,^^ 

 0-54 ; ham, o-8 to 1-5 ; and chicken, 0-15 to o-i8 mg. per 100 g. Ox 

 liver contains 0-45, pig kidney, i-o and sheep's kidney 0-57 mg. per 

 100 g. 



Dried yeast is the richest of all known sources, containing i-8 to 

 36 mg. per 100 g. Royal jelly and bee bread, although of no impor- 

 tance from the standpoint of human nutrition, are relatively rich 

 sources of aneurine, containing 0-9 and 0-64 mg. per 100 g. of dry 

 matter respectively. ^^ According to Kitzes et al.}'^ honey, pollen and 

 royal jelly contain 0-0044, o-6 and i-8 mg. per 100 g. respectively. 



Ordinary beer contains only traces of aneurine ^* (i to 6 I.U. per 

 ml.), although riboflavine and nicotinic acid may be present in appreci- 

 able quantities. Malt beers contain up to 100 /ug. per litre of aneurine. 

 It is believed ^^ on the basis of an examination of nineteenth-century 

 buns made from " good ale yeast " that nineteenth-century ale must 

 have been very much richer in aneurine than present-day beer or ale, 

 most of the vitamin being lost from bright beer by removal with the 

 yeast. 



Tea, although rich in nicotinic acid, does not contain appreciable 

 amounts of aneurine. Mate leaves contain ^^ 0-167 mg. per 100 g. 



Effect of Processing on Aneurine Content of Foodstuffs 



Much intensive work, especially during the 1939-45 war, has been 

 carried out on the effect of storage on the vitamin content of foodstuffs 

 and on the losses resulting from different methods of cooking vege- 

 tables and cereals. A detailed account of this cannot be given but 

 the general conclusions are as follows. Heat treatment reduced the 

 vitamin B^ content of milk,^' and rice,^^ but not of peas,^^' ^^ unless 

 sodium bicarbonate was added to the cooking water. Dehydrated 

 vegetables lost only small amounts of aneurine by the ordinary method 

 of dehydration, but when sulphite was used the loss was considerable.^^ 

 The amount of aneurine retained on cooking depended on the method 

 used and with dehydrated cabbage amounted to 42 to 76 %. The 

 maximum amount of aneurine lost in cooking potatoes was about 

 30 %, and no further loss occurred on keeping the potatoes warm as 



44 



