Studies on Enzyme Action. Xxiii. The Spontaneous Increase in Sucrase Activity of Banana Extracts

Abstract

The decomposition point of the dinitroso-resorcinol was found to be 162-163°, and not 115°.In addition to the solubility in the various solvents, mentioned by Eitz, it was found that dinitroso-resorcinol is insoluble in toluene, carbon tetrachloride or petroleum ether in the cold and very slightly soluble in these solvents at the boiling point. It is very slightly soluble in chloroform. An aqueous solution of the above dinitroso-resorcinol also gave the characteristic green color with ferric chloride solution, described by Eitz. Summary 1. A method has been given for the preparation, purification and crystallization of dinitroso-resorcinol.2. Dinitroso-resorcinol, when dried to constant weight in a vacuum desiccator over sulfuric acid, contains 1 molecule of water of crystallization and has the composition indicated by the formula CgHsCMNOH^. IEO. 3. Pure crystalline dinitroso-resorcinol decomposes at 162-163°instead of at 115°as is almost always stated.4. The action of several solvents upon dinitroso-resorcinol has been studied.5. The crystal form and characteristics of dinitroso-resorcinol have been determined.

Saccharase activity in the barley plant

“…In view of Falk & McGuire's [1920] findings on banana extracts, barley extracts were allowed to stand for various times to study the effect on saccharase activity. Only very small changes were found and there was no evidence of a similar situation to that found in the banana.…”

“…7 (Received 18 March 1940) IT has long been recognized that most plant tissues have the capacity of inverting sucrose, but intensive study of saccharase action has hitherto been almost exclusively concerned with the saccharase of yeast [O'Sullivan & Tompson, 1890;Hudson, 1908, 1, 2;Michaeis & Menten, 1913;Nelson & Hitchcock, 1921;von Euler & Josephson, 1923;Willstatter & Kuhn, 1923;Weidenhagen, 1930, and many other papers by these authors and their collaborators]. The information regarding the saccharase of higher plants is frequently confined to records of its presence and of the optimum pH for its action [Kastle & Clark, 1903;Bailey, 1912;Colin, 1915;Maestrini, 1921;McGuire & Falk, 1920;Traegel, 1923;Kondo et al 1929;Astruc & Mousseron, 1927;Blagoveschenski & Sossiedov, 1925;Matsusima, 1937]. Some attention has been paid to possible differences in the course of sucrose hydrolysis by saccharases from different plants [McGuire & Falk, 1923] and the effect of nutrient ions, particularly potassium, has been studied by Doby & Hibbard [1926;, Harrt [1929] and Cattle [1933], while Vinson [1908] and Emiliani [1938] record variations of activity with age in the date and vine respectively.…”

“…The information regarding the saccharase of higher plants is frequently confined to records of its presence and of the optimum pH for its action [Kastle & Clark, 1903;Bailey, 1912;Colin, 1915;Maestrini, 1921;McGuire & Falk, 1920;Traegel, 1923;Kondo et al 1929;Astruc & Mousseron, 1927;Blagoveschenski & Sossiedov, 1925;Matsusima, 1937]. Some attention has been paid to possible differences in the course of sucrose hydrolysis by saccharases from different plants [McGuire & Falk, 1923] and the effect of nutrient ions, particularly potassium, has been studied by Doby & Hibbard [1926;, Harrt [1929] and Cattle [1933], while Vinson [1908] and Emiliani [1938] record variations of activity with age in the date and vine respectively. Finally a group of Russian workers [Arassimovitsch, 1939;Kursanov, 1936, 1, 2;Kursanov & Kriukova, 1937, 1, 2;Oparin, 1937, 1,2;Rubin, 1936;Sisakyan, 1937] have quite recently investigated problems of saccharase action by infiltration methods.…”