OCCURRENCE 



accounts for the rachitogenic action of oatmeal, observed many years 

 ago, the immobilisation of a part of the dietary calciimi by the phytic 

 acid reducing the calcium/phosphorus ration to such an extent that 

 rickets may supervene. Phytic acid is also capable of immobilising 

 other metals, for example iron but, in general, the results are less 

 serious than with calcium. 



Inositol was isolated from the phosphatides of the tubercle bacillus 

 by R. J. Anderson, ^0 whilst the phosphatides of soya-bean were shown 

 to contain inositol monophosphoric ester. ^^ Subsequently, D. W. 

 Woolley,^^ showed that soya-bean phosphatide contained a complex 

 of inositol monophosphoric ester with galactose, ethanolamine, tar- 

 taric acid, oleic acid and saturated fatty acids. 



The chemical methods of estimating inositol have been used to 

 only a very small extent for estimating inositol in foodstuffs, but 

 L. Young,^^ using the iodomercurate method (page 568), obtained the 

 following values for the inositol content of various animal tissues : ox 

 brain, 149, in ; sheep brain, 172, 176 ; sheep heart muscle, 154 to 

 170 ; dog heart muscle, 156, 174 ; rabbit skeletal muscle, 16, 27 ; and 

 ox skeletal muscle, less than 5 mg. per 100 g. 



D. W. Woolley,^^ using a yeast growth method, obtained remark- 

 ably high values for ox liver and ox heart, namely, 340 and 1600 mg. 

 per 100 g. The heart muscle of other species of animals contained 

 considerably less inositol, however. ^^ 



The following values were obtained by D. W. Woolley ^* for various 

 other natural substances : maize, 50 ; oats, 100 ; alfalfa leaf meal, 

 210 ; brewers' yeast, 500 ; and whole milk, 50 mg. per 100 g. Wheat 

 flour contained no mg. of inositol per 100 g., and bread made from 

 98 % extraction flour, 64 mg. per 100 g}^ 



References to Section 6 



1. F. Kogl and W. van Hasselt, Z. physiol. Chem., 1936, 242, 43. 



2. W. B. Emery, N. McLeod and F. A. Robinson, Biochem. J., 1946, 



40, 426. 



3. D. W. Woolley, /. Biol. Chem., 1941, 139, 29. 



4. F. Rosenberger, Z. physiol. Chem., 1910, 64, 341. 



5. L. B. Winter, Biochem. J., 1934, 28, 6. 



6. A. E. Meyer, Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 1946, 62, m. 



7. P. B. Hawk, B. L. Oser and W. H. Summerson, Practical Physio- 



logical Chemistry, 1947. 

 ja. J, Folch, /. Biol. Chem., 1949, 177, 497, 505. 



8. R. J. Anderson, /. Biol. Chem., 1914, 18, 425, 441 ; 1915, 20, 463. 



9. D. C. Harrison and E. Mellanby, Biochem. J., 1939, 33, 1660. 



10. R. J. Anderson, /. Amer. Chem. Soc, 1930, 52, 1607. 



11. E. Klenk and R. Sakal, Z. physiol. Chem., 1939, 258, 33. 



12. D. W. Woolley, /. Biol. Chem., 1943, 147, 581. 



571 



