Interrelationship between Natural Pigments and the Mechanism of Conversion of Carbohydrate into Fat

Abstract

PARTICIPATION of Fusarium pigments in the conversion of carbohydrate into fat was indicated when it was found that the greatest rise in fat production by Fusarium solani D₂ purple was paralleled by an increment in pigment formation; the fat content of Fusarium lycopersici obtained pigmented on Raulin–Thom medium increased with rising sugar concentration of the medium, while the reverse was true when the mould was grown unpigmented on Czapek-Dox medium; Fusarium lini Bolley grew unpigmented in both media and showed no change in fat content¹. The function of these pigments was clearly indicated by experiments in which solanione was added to the media of growing Fusaria. The non-pigment formers produced a fat of greater desaturation under these conditions, whereas the fat formed in the pigmented moulds remained unaffected². Evidence has been presented previously correlating the action of the fatty acid dehydrogenase system of Fusaria³ with that of the pigments so characteristic of this genus. Increased desaturation of the fats of the non-pigmented Fusarium lini Bolley was also caused by naphthoquinones chemically related to solanione⁴.