The constituents of bryony root / by Frederick B. Power and Charles W. Moore.
- Frederick Belding Power
- Date:
- [1911?]
Licence: In copyright
Credit: The constituents of bryony root / by Frederick B. Power and Charles W. Moore. Source: Wellcome Collection.
4/14 page 938
![Bryony root has been the subject of several investigations, chiefly for the purpose of determining the nature of its active constituent (compare Husemann, Die Pflanzenstoffe, second edition, p. 1349, and van Ryn, Die Glykoside, p. 463), but no complete chemical examination has hitherto been made of it. With the exception of the recorded presence of starch, gum, sugar, and fat, the informa¬ tion concerning the constituents of the root is, in fact, chiefly restricted to the statement that it contains an amorphous, bitter glucoside, designated as bryonin. This product, as obtained by Masson (/. Pharrn. Chim., 1893, [v], 27, 300), formed pale yellow, amorphous laminae or a white, amorphous powder, soluble in water and in alcohol, but insoluble in ether, and possessing a strongly bitter taste. It was stated to have the formula C34H4g09, and, on heating with dilute sulphuric acid, to yield dextrose and an amorphous, yellow resin, designated as bryogenin, C28H3g04. Another product obtained by Masson (loc. cit.), which was of a purely resinous nature, was termed bryoresin, and to this the formula C37H680]8 was assigned. A consideration of the method of preparation and characters of the so-called bryonin, as described in the literature, renders it apparent that it could not have represented a pure or homogeneous substance. Inasmuch as the present authors have recently made a complete examination of two other drugs obtained from cucurbi- taceous plants, namely, elaterium (Pharm. J., 1909, 83, 501; Trans., 1909, 95, 1985) and colocynth (Trans., 1910, 97, 99), it was deemed of interest also to investigate the constituents of bryony root, especially as the latter is known to possess active purgative proper¬ ties. The results of the present chemical investigation, and of the physiological tests, are summarised at the end of this paper. Experimental. The material employed for this investigation consisted of the roots of Bryonia dioica, Linne, which had been specially collected for us during the early part of October by Messrs. W. Ransom and Son, of Hitchin, under the personal superintendence of Mr. P. E. F. PerredeSj B.Sc., F.L.S. Our thanks are due to these gentlemen for the great care which they have exercised in this connexion. The amount of fresh root collected was 107'5 kilograms, and this, after being sliced and dried, weighed 25‘5 kilograms. The loss on drying was therefore equivalent to 76'3 per cent, of the original weight.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30618186_0004.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
