The constituents of taraxacum root / by Frederick B. Power and Henry Browning, jun.

  • Frederick Belding Power
Date:
[1912?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The constituents of taraxacum root / by Frederick B. Power and Henry Browning, jun. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    L. E. Sayre has more recently contributed a number of papers on the subject of taraxacum (Proc. Amer. Pharm. Assoc., 1893, p. 77; 1894, p. 241; 1895, p. 203; 1896, p. 160; 1897, p. 223; 1898, p. 341), but his investigations do not appear to have resulted in the isolation of any definite constituent of the root. The question regarding the occurrence of mannitol in taraxacum root was investigated many years ago by T. and H. Smith {Pharm. J1849, 8, 480), who conclusively proved that this compound does not pre-exist therein, but that it is formed v/hen an extract of the root undergoes the so-called mucous or viscous fermentation. Its formation under these conditions would appear to permit of explanation by the fact that taraxacum root contains an abund¬ ance of inulin, which, on hydrolysis, is converted into laevulose, and the latter, by the special fermentative process referred to, becomes reduced to mannitol. The above observation has now also been confirmed by the present authors, inasmuch as no trace of mannitol could be isolated directly from the root employed for this research. While the present investigation was in progress it has been recorded {Brit. Med. J., May .25th, 1912, p. 1181) that the use of taraxacum in cases of cancer has been attended with remarkably beneficial results, and shortly afterwards {ibid., July 13th, 1912, p. 97) attention was directed to the use of choline in the treatment of this disease. Additional interest is imparted to these two quite independent observations, especially when considered conjointly, by the fact that taraxacum root has now been found to contain choline. The various other well-defined compounds which have been isolated are summarised at the end of this paper. Experimental. The material employed for this investigation consisted of the best quality of English taraxacum root, which was collected in the autumn of 1911, and kindly supplied to us by Messrs. W. Ransom and Son, of Hitchin. A small portion (25 grams) of the ground root was treated with Prollius’ fluid, and the resulting product tested for an alkaloid with the usual reagents. The reactions obtained were so slight as to indicate the presence of not more than traces of an alkaloidal substance. Another portion (20 grams) of the ground material was succes¬ sively extracted in a Soxhlet apparatus with various solvents, and the resulting extracts dried in a water-oven until of constant weight:
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