The effect of alkali depends upon the temperature to a very marked degree.
Osborne has recently reinvestigated this matter and finds that in the
presence of a 0.1N solution of alkali at 20°C. there is very little
destruction but that raising the temperature to 90°C. brings about a
marked destruction. Seidell has shown that if the vitamine is absorbed by
Lloyd's reagent and this reagent be then extracted with dilute alkali the
vitamine passes into the alkaline solution. If the latter is neutralized
quickly it is possible to recover most of the vitamine by this method. The
effect of alkali becomes of practical importance to the housewife because
of certain cooking habits. I refer to the well known practice of adding
soda to the water in which vegetables are cooked to soften the vegetable
and accelerate the cooking. Daniels and Loughlin in this country
investigated this matter and came to the conclusion that this procedure
did not produce enough destruction to be dangerous. Later the matter was
studied by Chick and Hume in England and these investigators brought out a
feature that had perhaps been overlooked in the previous work. Their point
was that in ordinary feeding tests the results merely tell whether there
is enough vitamine present to produce normal growth. Hence if the
substance tested has much vitamine, a large part of it might be destroyed
and this fact not appear in the test because enough might still be left to
induce normal growth. By reducing the amount tested so that it was just
adequate for normal growth and then applying the soda-cooking
experimentation they showed that this method of cookery does do serious
harm to the vitamine. From the practical point of view it is of course
sufficient to show that enough is left after a cooking process to suffice
for normal growth when the substance is taken in the portion sizes
ordinarily eaten. The effect of alkali deserves more attention on the part
of cooks and food preparateurs and we need more data concerning the
minimal dose necessary to protect the human animal.
In neutral and acid solution it is perfectly safe to assume little
destruction of this vitamin through heat and it is now common practice to
boil sources with the extracting reagent and to use the steam bath freely
to concentrate and evaporate these extracts. We have recently investigated
the effect upon cabbage of cooking in a pressure cooker at eight pounds
pressure. The cabbage so cooked, when dried and mixed so as to form 10 per
cent of a basal vitamine free diet, yielded all the "B" vitamine necessary
to produce normal growth in rats.
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