Studies on the Components of Vegetables

A survey of the free amino acids and organic acids in the shoot of Phyllostachys edulis was made by means of amino acid autoanalyzer and gas chromatograph. The results of the survey are summerized as follows. 1. Eighteen amino acids found in bamboo shoot were lysine, histidine, arginine, tryptophan, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, threonine, serine, proline, glycine, alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, methionine, tyrosine and phenylalanine, and an unknown was found. Serine showed the highest amount and more than about 44% of total free amino acids. 2. Oxalic acid was the major organic acid, and formic acid, acetic acid, maleic acid, succinic acid, fumaric acid, citric acid, tartaric acid and sorbic acid were determined, and two unknown were found.