HYDROLYSIS OF THE SOLUBLE PROTEIN OF 

 SWEDE TURNIPS. 



By GWILYM WILLIAMS, B.A., B.Sc. (Emmanuel College). 



[School of Agriculture, Cambridge.) 



In the Agricultural Returns published by the Board of Agriculture, 

 the figures for swedes and turnips are given together. Taking the 

 figures for 19L3, we find that swedes and turnips were grown on 1,757,000 

 acres of land in the United Kingdom, and that the total weight of crop 

 obtained was 25,319,000 tons. No other green crop occupied so large 

 an area, and no other crop of any kind produced as great a weight 

 of fodder. 



Recent work on the Chemistry of Nutrition has shown that the 

 nutritive value of a protein may be affected by the relative amounts 

 of the individual amino-acids contained in it. The average composition 

 of the protein eaten by an animal should, in respect of the amino-acid 

 balance, approximate as closely as possible to that of its body proteins. 

 If in the mixed proteins of a ration there is for instance a considerable 

 excess or deficiency of some one amino-acid there will probably be an 

 uneconomical utilisation of the protein as a whole. These considera- 

 tions make it highly desirable that the agriculturist should have a 

 complete knowledge of the amino-acid content of his feeding stuffs in 

 order to enable him to avoid protein waste in compiling rations for his 

 stock. This research is intended to serve as a contribution to such 

 knowledge. 



The variation in the "total solids" of swede turnips has been 

 studied by Collins^, but the protein seems to have escaped the 

 attention of investigators. Addyman^ gives the following figures for 

 the amount of protein in swede turnips. 



Juice 97-466 grams containing sol. albuminoids 0*167 gram 

 Solids 2-534 „ „ insol. „ 0-216 „ 



100-000 grams 0-383 gram 



^ Journ. of Afjrk. Sri. i, 89, 1905. ^ Agric. Analysis, p. 113. 



