12 



THE SYNTHESIS OF FATS 



fat and the decrease in the amount of carbohydrate are con- 

 current. This is illustrated in the above tables representing 

 the results of two experiments by Le Clerc du Sablon. 



The carbohydrates which serve as raw material for the 

 elaboration of fats vary with the plant ; glucose, sucrose and 

 starch would appear to be most commonly employed in this 

 connection, the last two being initially hydrolysed. 



It is a well-known fact that carbohydrates appear during 

 the germination of fat containing seeds. Thus Maz * found 

 that the isolated cotyledons of arachis seeds increased in their 

 dry weight from 2*2613 to 2-6153 grams, an increase due to 

 the fixation of oxygen, whilst their sugar content increased 

 from '3416 to -4684 grams. 



The work of Le Clerc du Sablon, Ivanow, Miller and 

 others have thrown much light on the hydrolysis of fats in 

 their studies on the germination of various fat-containing 

 fruits and seeds. Lipase is the enzyme concerned and by its 

 activity the fat is hydrolysed into glycerol and fatty acid, 

 which products are used either immediately for the needs of 

 the seedling or are first converted into carbohydrate. Agree- 

 ment is general that as germination proceeds, the acid radicles 

 become saturated, as is indicated by the decrease in the iodine 

 value, and the rate of consumption of these acids is inversely 

 proportional to their degree of saturation. 



As the fats decrease, the carbohydrates increase, a fact 

 brought out in the following analysis of arachis seedlings by 

 Maquenne.f 



The nature of the carbohydrate formed differs in different 

 plants ; glucose would appear to be the most common, but 



* Maze : " Compt. rend.," 1900, 130, 424. 

 fMaquenne: " Compt. rend.," 1898, 127, 625. 



