Abstract
Various methods have been introduced for chemical detection of sialic acid. Among those methods we applied resorcinol reaction, orcinol reaction (Bial) and thiobarbituric acid reaction to histochemical study as they appeared to be useful. As the result, it was found that only orcinol reaction (Bial) shows reaction on specimen. When orcinol reaction was conducted by using pure reagents, fructose, sorbose, tryptophan and sialic acid (N-acetylneuraminic acid) indicated positive reaction. Fructose and sorbose were discriminated from sialic acid because of their color and its quick fading. Discrimination of tryptophan from sialic acid was possible by tryptophan staining by Serra's method and tetrazonium method as its reaction part is different. It was also possible to discriminate these substances by spectrophotomter and thin-layer chromatography. It was therefore concluded that the substance which develops color in Bial's reaction on specimen is most probably sialic acid.
