Physiological Observations on Lecithin, 



BY 



T. Hanai, Nogakushi. 



It is a well known fact that lecithin occurs widely distribut- 

 ed in the vegetable and animal kingdoms, forming in various pro- 

 portions an admixture with fatty matters. Only a limited num- 

 ber of observations have however been made in regard to the 

 physiological relations. It was found by Maxwell, w that the 

 amount of lecithin increases during the germination process of 

 plants, and later decreases again. 5. Frankfurt observed that 

 during the germination of Helianthus seeds the amount of leci- 

 thin increased from 0.44 to 0.85 % while the amount of fat de- 

 creased from 55.32 to 24.54 %. It seems very probable that in 

 reality much more lecithin had been formed during the germina- 

 tion process than was actually found, and that a part of it again 

 was consumed/ 3 ' 



O. Loew made some experiments with a diluted solution of 

 lecithin in regard to the capability of nourishing lower fungi, and 

 observed that Penicillium could not, in the absence of other or- 

 ganic material, develop in a o. 1 % solution of lecithin containing 

 the necessary mineral nutrients, but only bacteria to a moderate 

 extent ; this vegetation made the impression of a pure culture, 

 although the infection was made from putrid meat containing 

 various kinds of microbes. <4) 



Seeds rich in starch generally contain much less lecithin 

 than such as are rich in proteid, thus barley grains contain less 

 than half the amount of lecithin that soja-beans do. (5;i 



Probably there is also a larger proportion ot lecith-albumin (8) 

 in the seed of soja and lupin than in those of squash and barley. 



(1) Chcm. Ccntral-Blatt., 91, I. 365. 



Ih-ftcr observed a decrease of the amount of lecithin in the liver during starvation. 



(2) I.andw. Vers.-Stat., Vol. XLIII, 143. 



(3) Recently Stollasa (Wien. Akad. Ber., 1895) has found that lecithin forms a suit- 

 able source of phosphoric acid when offered to the roots ; he also observed its formation 

 in green leave; as well as its consumption in darkness. 



(4) Bull. Coll. of Agr. of the Imp. Univ. of Japan ; Vol. II. No. 2. 



(5) Schulze and Sleiger, Zeitschr. physio!. Chem., 13, 386. 



(6) Cf. Leo. Liebermann, Pflng. Arch., 1893. 



