A note on the carbohydrates of the root of the cat-tail (Typha latifolia)

Abstract

In a recent communication 1 the root of the cat-tail has been recommended as a valuable food product for man. An analysis is recorded to indicate that the material contains 81 per cent. of carbohydrates. No evidence is presented however, as to the precise identity of the latter. In view of the fact that various roots are known to contain carbohydrates, like inulin, which are by no means identical in physiological value with starch although they have various reactions in common with it, I have separated the most abundant carbohydrate of the cat-tail root for identification.

It gives a blue color with iodine, forms a characteristic paste with hot water, is readily digested (in contrast with inulin) by saliva, and yields on hydrolysis a dextro-rotatory solution from which an osazone, identical with glucosazone, was prepared. The carbohydrate thus corresponds with starch. Our “flour” indicated a carbohydrate content of 56.8 per cent., estimated in the conventional way from the reducing sugar formed by hydrolysis with acid.

To test the innocuousness of the cat-tail root as a food mice were fed for a week on otherwise adequate diets containing 30 per cent. of the “flour” without evident untoward results. The animals gained in weight upon the ration.