On the Presence of Asparagine in the Root of Nelumbo nucifera, 
BY 
Y. Kinoshita, Nögakushi. 
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 
Fat ... 
Fibre 
Non-nitrogenous extract, starch etc... 
• • # ••• ••• 1*1 tii 
•• ••• 1•• ••• 
7-75 
1.44 
7.1g 
... 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 Althœa 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 
