Online Encyclopedia

AMYGDALIN (from the Gr. aµurySaXrt, a...

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 900 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AMYGDALIN (from the Gr. aµurySaXrt, almond), C2  ,3H27NO11, a
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glucoside isolated from bitter almonds by H . E . Robiquet and A . F . Boutron-Charlard in 183o, and subsequently investigated by Liebig and Wohler, and others . It is extracted from almond cake by boiling
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alcohol; on evaporation of the solution and the addition of ether, amygdalin is precipitated as white minute crystals . Sulphuric acid decomposes it into d-glucose, benzaldehyde and prussic acid; while hydrochloric acid gives mandelic acid, d-glucose and
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ammonia . The decomposition induced by enzymes may occur in two ways . Maltase partially decomposes it, giving d-glucose and mandelic nitrile glucoside, C6H5CH(CN)O•C6H11O5; this compound is isomeric with sambunigrin, a glucoside found by E . E . Bourquelot and Danjou in the berries of the
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common elder, Sambucus nigra . Emulsin, on the other hand, decomposes it into benzaldehyde, prussic acid, and two molecules of glucose; this enzyme occurs in the bitter almond, and consequently the seeds invariably contain
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free prussic acid and benzaldehyde .

An " amorphous amygdalin " is said to occur in the

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cherry-
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laurel . Closely related to these glucosides is dhurrin, C14H1707N, isolated by W . Dunstan and T . A . Henry from the common
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sorghum or "
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great millet," Sorghum vulgare; this substance is decomposed by emulsin or hydrochloric acid into d-glucose, prussic acid, and p-hydroxybenzaldehyde .

End of Article: AMYGDALIN (from the Gr. aµurySaXrt, almond), C2
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