The Sugars and Non-Volatile Organic Acids of some Archegoniates: A survey using Paper Chromatography

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Abstract
This survey shows that glucose, fructose, and sucrose are the principal sugars of bryophytes and pteridophytes. Free pentoses were not detected and can be present only in very small amounts. The occurrence of raffinose, or an allied sugar, in certain bryophytes, in Psilotum , and in some of the more primitive families of ferns is worthy of note. No other sugars were detected in quantity. Notwithstanding the low pH values there is a striking absence of non-volatile organic acids from the bryophytes. The pteridophytes as a group are also apparently of low acid content, but the Equisetinae have considerable quantities of malic acid. Isoetes and Platycerium are very rich in malic acid and are indeed comparable in acid content with acid succulents such as Bryophyllum and Sedum . There is no evidence of any notable difference between the carbohydrate metabolism of the bryophytes and pteridophytes and that of higher plants, but the acid metabolism, particularly of the bryophytes, may show interesting differences and merits further investigation.

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