B'.OLOGY LIBRARY G - T. . . r /. . ' ; ">;:;'W 8061 '12 NVP 'A 'N ' soig je jam lunotuoioud 1\J* '/*&' Vol. 59, No. 1, February, 1922 SOME PLANT SOURCES OF VITAMINS B AND C 1 FRANCISCO 0. SANTOS 2 From the Sheffield Laboratory of Physiological Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. Received for publication September 28, 1921 In the problem of food selection, instinct is considered by many per- sons to be a fairly safe guide. Therefore it is often assumed that the question of vitamin deficiency in the diet needs no special considera- tion. This, however, is not invariably the case. In the Philippines, where fruits and vegetables abound all the year round, deficiency dis- eases have occurred and are occurring among the Filipinos as well as among the people living in the temperate zones. That the people who can obtain the foods which are generally considered as excellent sources of vitamins should be subject to deficiency diseases may be due to one or both of the following reasons: They are either eating more and more of artificially treated foods or are not eating the right kind. So far no systematic investigation of the vitamin content of Philippine food materials has been made, except that of Brill and Alincastre on "the possible maximum vitamin content of some Philippine vegetables" (3). In the light of our newer knowledge concerning these mysterious sub- stances, the above work appears of no value. Therefore in a series of studies of the nutrition of the Filipinos it became highly .desirable that vitamin tests be made on the fruits and vegetables which are being or may be eaten by them. Several vegetables and fruits have already been tested for vitamin content by different investigators (27), (28), (7), (34), (9), (16), (21), (30), (31), (32), (33), (17), (18), (26), (24), (11), (4), (8), (20), (35). A thorough review of the subject shows, however, that there are still many uninvestigated, which are commonly eaten. The present work is intended as a beginning of a series of tests which will be undertaken soon. It is regretted that the distance from the Philippines has made 1 The data in this paper are taken from the dissertation presented by the writer for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Yale University, 1922. 2 Traveling Fellow of the University of the Philippines. 310 PLANT SOURCES OF VITAMINS B AND C 311 the selection of materials limited to what could be purchased here in the States and what were furnished by Doctor Kellogg of the Battle Creek Sanatorium, the United Fruit Co., and Mr. Ames, Director of the Botanic Garden of Harvard University in Cuba, to whom I desire to express my hearty appreciation. The present tests became dependent on the supply of materials available. I. TEST FOR VITAMIN B Method. In order to obtain a comparative estimate of the vitamin content of the materials under investigation a plan similar to the one used by Osborne and Mendel (32) has been adopted. The fruits and vegetables were dried in an air current at less than 85C. The dried materials were ground finely and then made into pills of 1 gram, | gram, or less, according to the need of the experiments. Glucose syrup was used as adhesive. Osborne and Mendel (31) have prepared a diet for albino rats which has been shown to be complete in every respect except that it lacks vitamin B. ' This mixture was slightly modified in percentage com- position as follows: Casein 18 Salt mixture 3 4 Starch 50 Butter fat 9 Lard 19 On this food the rats slowly lose appetite and after a time decline in weight. Then if the diet is not changed or improved by the addition of substances containing vitamin B, death ensues. In most cases the animals promptly improve in appetite when vitamin B is given. But when the source of vitamin is too bulky so that it prevents the ingestion of sufficient of the standard food, the total intake of all essentials may become inadequate. The ability to cause the recovery of rats which have been declining in weight on a diet which is known to be complete in every respect except that it lacks vitamin B, has been taken as a proof that the material in question contains the latter. The feeding technique was essentially like that commonly employed in this laboratory and described by Ferry (12). Protocols of body weights and food intakes are given in tables, and some of the data 8 The salt mixture used is that described by Osborne and Mendel, Journ. Biol. Chem., 1917, xxxii, 317. A78G55 312 FRANCISCO O. SANTOS are also presented in graphic forms in charts. (Tables 1 to 10 and charts 1 to 12.) TABLE 1 Mongo; body weight and weekly intake of standard diet FEEDING PERIOD ONE GRAM SUPPLEMENT Rat 3d" Ratio 9 Rat 9 9 Rat 7 9 Body weight Diet Body weight Diet Body weight Diet Body weight Diet weeks grams grams grams grams grams grams grams grams 150 168 66 178 83 64 70 194 95 94 93 1 174 ? 94 33 94 43 99 46 2 164 ? 90 34 97 30 92 29 3 152x ? 85 16 90 20 82 20 4 166 46 75 16 84 16 81 16 5 178 44 64x j 80x 12 76 16 6 190 46 85 29 98 32 76x 12 7 210 53 102 36 108 36 97 36 8 220 104 36 107 32 115 45 9 117 46 115 38 122 46 10 126 40 132 44 FEEDING PERIOD ONE-HALF GRAM SUPPLEMENT Rat3cf Rat 11 9 Rat 9 9 Body weight Diet Body weight Diet Body weight Diet weeks grams grams grams grams grams grams 220 218 166 115 1 202 ? 153 34 122 40 2 195 ? 150 29 123 40 3 184x ? 140 25 117 27 4 192 45 130x 23 lOOx ? 5 198 50 143 34 118 36 6 198 43 152 37 120 36 7 196y 54 154 52 132 40 8 206 56 154y 42 136 37 9 231 55 172 50 DISCUSSIONS OF THE MATERIALS USED AND THE FEEDING EXPERI- MENTS. MONGO: (Phaseolus mongo L.). This bean contains about PLANT SOURCES OF VITAMINS B AND C 313 20 per cent protein (N X 6.25) (2). It is extensively used by the Fil- ipinos and is practically the only food of the people afflicted with TABLE 2 Togi; body weight and weekly intake of standard diet ONE GRAM SUPPLEMENT rXIDING PERIOD Rat 1 9 Rat8