Experiments on Vitamin G Concentration and Possible Supplementary Relationships with the Vitamin G Deficient Diet

Abstract

Attempts to concentrate the vitamin G of food materials 1 , 2 , 3 before completion of the work here reported, have been complicated by the postulation of a multiplicity of factors in vitamin G.^4-14 While the question of this possible multiple nature of the vitamin still remains very unsettled, much progress has been made in the concentration of the vitamin. 15 , 16 , 17 The present paper reports additional evidence of the existence of some unknown variant in vitamin G research and describes a method of concentration of vitamin G which is being used as an initial procedure in the subsequent concentration work of Booher. 17

The method used in the evaluation of various materials for their vitamin G content was essentially that of Bourquin and Sherman. 18 During this investigation the small anti-coprophagy harness previously described 19 was first used to minimize the error due to coprophagy. In a group of 37 animals, half of which were harnessed, the average total gain at the end of the fifth week for the group restricted in respect to coprophagy was 18.8 ± 1.2 gm., while in the parallel group, unrestricted in respect to coprophagy, the corresponding gain was 29.4 ± 2.2 gm. (Deviation measure = P.E.). Observed activity of the animals and the greater precision in growth records of the harnessed animals indicates that the harness per se did not restrict growth.

Concentration Experiments. A concentrate of vitamin G from dried skimmed milk powder was obtained as follows: 500 gm. of air dried skimmed milk powder were refluxed successively and with constant agitation by means of a stream of purified nitrogen with 2000 cc, 1250 cc, and 750 cc. of neutral boiling 93-94% ethyl alcohol (by weight) for 30, 30, and 15 minutes respectively.