Agricultural Chemistry 



The Products of Sucrose Hy- 

 drolysis in Strawberries Influence 

 the Determination of Ascorbic Acid. 

 In strawberries which are packed for 

 freezing without sweetening, hy- 

 drolysis of the sucrose present in the 

 berries at harvest time takes place 

 during frozen storage. In berries 

 which are packed with syrup, hy- 

 drolysis of both the original and 

 added sucrose occurs. The determi- 

 nation of ascorbic acid in the stored 

 berries is influenced by the end 

 products of this hydrolysis and also 

 by the presence of naturally occur- 

 ring dicarboxylic acids. Progress is 

 being made on a method of ascorbic 

 acid determination which will not 

 be influenced by these interfering 

 substances. 



S. R. Shimer 



H. J. PURINTON 



Enzyme Studies with Squash. The 

 presence of phosphorylase in each 

 of the three common species of cu- 

 cubita has been proved. Weak any- 

 lase activity appears to be present 

 also. The pectin content of the ma- 

 terial seriously interferes with the 

 separation of the enzymes. 

 T. G. Phillips 



Biological Assay Methods Prove 

 Useful in Measuring the Amounts of 

 Water-soluble Vitamins. It has been 

 determined that the Lactobacillus 

 arabinosus assay for nicotinic acid, 

 the L. fermentum method for thi- 

 amine, and L. Casei procedures for 

 riboflavin and pantothenic acid are 

 applicable to the quantitative determi- 

 nation of these vitamins in urine, 

 feces, and milk. Consequently, they 

 are of considerable value in excre- 

 tion studies. Since sulfonamides are 

 often employed in such experiments, 

 the effect of the compounds upon 



the assay procedures was studied. It 

 was found that certain sulfonamides, 

 if present in sufficient concentration, 

 inhibit growth of the organisms, but 

 that this inhibition can be prevented 

 by increasing the amount of p- 

 aminobenzoic acid in the basal medi- 

 um. 



A. E. Teeri 



The Carboyhdrates of Pasture 

 Grasses. The carbohydrate content 

 of various pasture grasses through- 

 out the growing season is being 

 studied. Although a more complete 

 report will be made in another year 

 or two, some findings are worthy of 

 mention at this time. 



The sucrose content varied among 

 species from a low of 2 per cent in 

 Kentucky to a high of 13 per cent 

 in brome grass, both at the dough 

 stage. Fructosan was present in 

 five species but was absent in alta 

 fescue, brome, and orchard grass, 

 the tops only being sampled. 



In all the species except timothy, 

 protein correlated negatively with 

 both cellulose and lignin while the 

 latter two correlated positively with 

 one another. 



During the growing season, pro- 

 tein decreased significantlv between 

 any two successive sampling dates. 

 Protein differences between species 

 were usually significant at the same 

 physiological stage of maturity, reed 

 canary and brome being the highest 

 and timothy the lowest. Reed ca- 

 nary also was highest in soluble ash 

 and lowest in lignin. Comparisons 

 at the same date often gave different 

 relationships than comparisons at 

 the same stage of growth. 



T. G. Phillips 



M. E. LOUGIILIN 

 S. ROSEMAN 



