Abstract
The mucilage was isolated by addition of alcohol and ether to the water extract of crushed leafstalk of young warabi.
Carbohydrates and proteins in mucilage were characterized, and sugars and amino acids in the acid hydrolysate of mucilage were identified by the paper chromatography.
It was confirmed that the main component of the mucilage was polysaccharide, consisting of a large quantity of fucose, xylose, galactose, and a small quantity of ribose, arabinose, mannose and glucuronic acid.
The nitrogen content of the mucilage was 1.15%. The nitrogeneous compound contained aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, alanine, tyrosine, proline, valine, leucine and three other ninhydrin-positive substances. It was assumed to be a kind of mucopolysaccharide from its color reactions and metal precipitation reactions for proteins.
The mucilage contained about 10% ash, including large amounts of Ca and Mg, and small amounts of Na and K. These metals were supposed to be ionically combined with the mucilage.
