The constituents of the seeds of Casimiroa edulis / by Frederick B. Power and Thomas Callan.

  • Power, Frederick B. (Frederick Belding), 1853-1927.
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The constituents of the seeds of Casimiroa edulis / by Frederick B. Power and Thomas Callan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Experimental. Inasmuch as the entire fruit of Gasimiroa edulis could not con- veniently be transported to this country, and the seed are considered to be the most active portion, a quantity of the latter was specially collected in Mexico for the purpose of the present investigation. The seed, which in size and shape somewhat resemble an almond, are provided with a grey, fibrous shell, enclosing a kernel, which is covered with a thin, brown membrane. The shells were found to represent about one-fifth the weight of the entire fresh seed, and they were separately examined. I.—Examination of the Kernels. Separation of an Enzyme. A quantity (810 grams) of the kernels, representing 1 kilogram of the entire seed, was crushed, and macerated with water at the ordinary temperature for two days, the liquid being then expressed and filtered. To the filtered liquid, in which the presence of starch was indicated, about twice its volume of alcohol was added, when an abundant llocculent precipitate was produced. After about twenty-four hours the precipitate was collected, washed with a little alcohol, and dried, first on a porous plate, and finally in a vacuum over sulphuric acid. It could then be reduced to a light brown powder, and amounted to 9 grams, or O'9 per cent, of the weight of entire seed employed. The above-described product, when dissolved in water, yielded a solution which frothed strongly on agitation, and gave an abundant, white, curdy precipitate, both with hydrochloric acid and on boiling. It gave the biuret reaction, and also slowly hydrolysed amygdalin, thus proving the presence of an enzyme. Preliminary Test for an Alkaloid.—A small portion (about 6 grams) of the dried kernels of the seed was treated with Prollius’ ; fluid, and the resulting liquid tested in the usual manner for an alkaloid. The results obtained indicated the presence of a considerable proportion of such a substance. lor the purpose of a complete examination of the seed, the shells were first separated from the kernels, and a quantity of the latter, which, after being ground, amounted to 37 05 kilograms, was extracted by continuous percolation with hot alcohol until exhausted. In view of the asserted presence of a glucosidc, or of a glucoalkaloid,” in the seed, and in order to preclude the hydro-