Cxliii. the Polyuronide Constituents of Forage Grasses

DURING the past few years, an extended study has been made in these laboratories of the chemistry of certain constituents of the forage grasses, the nitrogenous substances and the fats and waxes having received particular attention. Samples of a number of grasses of pure strain and known history being available, the opportunity was taken to examine the cell-wall substances of certain of these. Detailed information on the chemistry of these substances is extremely scanty, being limited to such rather empirical data as "crude fibre," "pentosan" and cellulose content of the tissues; in view of the importance of the cell-wall materials from the standpoint of nutritional value and digestibility of the crops, a much more detailed study seemed to be called for. The polyuronides (pectins and hemicelluloses) of cocksfoot grass have been examined in some detail, while a number of analyses of the chief cell-wall and other carbohydrate constituents of other grasses, grown under comparable conditions, are recorded.