Abstract
THE only recorded micromethod for the estimation of bacterial cellulose is that of Schramm and Hestrin1, which requires the acetolysis of a previously purified sample and careful neutralization of the hydrolysate with sodium hydroxide prior to colorimetric estimation of the reducing power of this neutralized solution. This method is rather long—a disadvantage when several samples are to be assayed—and the neutralization step is critical. A micromethod has now been devised which halves the time taken for analysis, by eliminating acetolysis, hydrolysis and neutralization. This new method is an adaptation of that reported by Mendel, Kemp and Myers2 for estimating blood glucose. These workers found that their method was also applicable to such polysaccharides as starch and glycogen. Although cellulose is much more difficult to hydrolyse than either of these polysaccharides, adaptation of their method has proved successful in estimating cellulose directly without initial hydrolytic treatment.
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References
Schramm, M., and Hestrin, S., Biochem. J., 56, 163 (1954).
Mendel, B., Kemp, A., and Myers, D. K., Biochem. J., 56, 639 (1954).
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DEARING, G. A New Micromethod for the Estimation of Cellulose. Nature 179, 579 (1957). https://doi.org/10.1038/179579a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/179579a0
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