On the Presence of Asparagine in the Root of Nelumbo nucifera. 



BY 



Y. Kinoshita, Ntgakushi. 



The root of Nelumbo nucifera is used in this country in the 

 boiled condition as food, and is rich in starch. Its nutritive 

 quality may be judged from the following analysis by Kellner : 



Water 85.84 % 



In 100 pts of dry matter: 



Crude protein 7.75 



Fat 1.44 



Fibre 7.19 



Non-nitrogenous extract, starch etc 78.59 



Ash (free from carbon and carbon dioxide) ... 5.03 



I suspected that a certain amount of nitrogen might be 

 present in the form of amides as in potatoes and beets, and 

 actually found the presence of a not inconsiderable quantity of 

 asparagine. This substance is evidently closely connected with 

 the formation of proteids, and is therefore of high physiological 

 interest. 



It has been frequently found in germinating seeds, which 

 contain the more of it the poorer they are in carbohydrates. It 

 is also present in many buds during their development, but its 

 presence in roots has less frequently been demonstrated. The 

 root of Althcca contains 2 %, that of Glycirrhiza (Plisson) 0.8 %, 

 that of Scorzonera (Gorup) 0.6 %, and potatoes 3 % (E. Schulze). 

 It was also found in the root of Symphytum and in that of Lactuca. 



In order to obtain asparagine from the root of Nelumbo 

 nucifera, I proceeded as follows: — 



The fresh root was reduced to a fine pulp and pressed, the 

 residue was mixed with a little water and pressed once more. 

 The filtered liquid was evaporated and the residue was extracted 

 with hot alcohol of 60 %. Upon cooling an abundant crop 

 of crystals was obtained while the mother liquor yielded more 



