Itano, Arao

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Studies on the cellulose.* (Publlation on cellulose No. I.)

Okayama University Scientific Achievement Repository

Studies on the cellulose. * (Public&tion on cellulose No. 1.) By Arao Itano. [Aug. 13th， 19z6.] This pater presents a preIiminary report on the bio-physico-chemical pro-bJems which are in course of investigation on the ceIIulose. CelIulose is one of the most important carbohydrates from many stand-points， nameIy its wide distribution in nature and its usefulness in manufactur-ing. EspeciaIIy in agriculture， the impo巾 ntrδle in maintenance of proper soiI conditions has been weII known. It however has been very Iitle lmown as to its exact chemical nature on account of its pecuIiar properties. Through the thermodynamical studies together with the investigations on the process of decomposition， some additional information may be obtained. CeIIulose is deco白posedby comparativeIy few microorganisms in spite of the enormous amounts of ceIlulose produced and destroyed eveηr year on earth. Among the few organisms isolated， the anaerobic group has been in-vestigated1) to some extent as to their activity. But the others received com-parativeIy litle aitention in recent years.2) An aerobic， thermophiIc ceIIulose fermenter has been investigated here in regard to their energetics， intermediate and end-products of the fermentation. 1n regard to the studies of. energetics on the members of Schizophyta， only few literature is avaiJable. Since RUBNERR) investigated the subject， there has been very Iitle work done. EspeciaIly on the soiI microorganisms， only few investigation are found on record.引1) OMELIANSKI， Centralbl. f. Bakt.， n， 1~2， 193・2) C. van ITERSON， CentraIbl. f. Bakt.， I， 23，689; H町 CHlNSON& CLAYTON， J. Agr. Science. 9. 143; McBETH & SCALES， U. S. Dep't Agr. B. P. 1. Bull.， 266; VIL]OIN & others， J. Agr. Science， 16， 19:&6， [ : andothe四.3) M. RUBJ!ilER. Archiv. f. Hygine， 48， [904，260. 57， 1906， 161. A.Puτ'TER， Vergleichende Physinl(定ie，1911，37. 4) S. WINOGRADSKY， Bot. Zeitung， 45，1187，489; N. L. SOHNGEN， CentralbI. f. Bakt・， 15，1906，513;F. H. van SUCHTX国民 Centralbl.f. Bakt.， 2， 58， 1923・* Published in the Bull. of the Agricultural Chemical品c.of Japan II， 5.54， May， 1926. 216 A. ITANO: 1. Thermodynamics Involved in the Cellulose DecompositioD. As it is weII known， the plants synthesize the cellulose out of carbon dioxide and water， and when the plant residues find their way into the soil， they are decomposed by， I. the enzyme cytase， 2. the anaerobic microorganisms， 3. the aerobic microorganisms， Of course in the last two cases， the action may be due to the enzyme secreted by the organism， but it has not so far been demonstrated. Again it is not probable that the cytase survives the temperature of 650C for so long time as the thermophilic cellulose fermenter do unless some speci~1 conditions exist. As the end products of decomposition， the carbon dioxide and water are given 0虻 Thistransform:1tion involves not only bio-chemical but physical process Aamely the thermodynamics or energetics. Then， inthe process of formation of ceIIulose， certain amount of energy absorbed or endothermic reaction takes place， and the exothermic reaction follows in course of decomposition. This transformation of energy taking place in soil is very important from the soil microbiological standpoint. That is while the plants utilize the sun's energy in the process of synthesis， the microorganisms must自ndthe energy supply to elsewhere， and the source became more c1early understood by the study of fermentation by RUBNER勺and few others. In investigating this phase of problem on the cellulose， itwas found very di伍culton account of the lack of exact chemical knowledge of ceIIulose and also the nature of the process involved. For instance， inlooking up the Iiterature on the heat of formation and also the heat of combustion，. the numeri-cal value given by the different authors is somewhat different. Examining the data coUected in the Iight of energy equation of ceIIulose and comparing it with that of glucose， oni! finds that For Glucose， C6H1SOd + 120 = 6COl + 6H"O + 677.2 KcaI') -x ー o =・565.8-4'句 .8+ 674.0 "勾and for， Cellulose， C6HIO d + 120 = 6CO:l + 5HsO + 680.4 Kcal1) -x ー o = -565.8 -341.5 + 680.0 " i) From these equations， the heat of formation8) is calculated and found as follows: i. e.， calculating for x， 1) R. BIEDERMANN， ChemikeトKalender.2) W. NXRNST， TheoreticJ.l Chemistry， 6th edition; 3) F. H. GETMAN， Outlines ()f The()retical Chemistry， 3rd Editi()n. Studies on the celJu'ose. 217 For Glucose， 301.6 and Cellulose， 227.3 Kcal. From the heat of formation thus caIculated， one may be informed very approximately as to the quantity of energy involved in the synthesis， and also from the heat of combustion， we find the maximum energy could:be liberated on its complete oxidation. Further， from the calorific value determined， the constitution of cellulose may possibly be ascertained more accurately and clearly than has been known.1) This phase of the investigation wi1l be re-ported in detail in near future. 1n the light of the energy equation， the possible process of cellulose decomposition may be noted as follows， assuming that an initial step is hydrolysis : C6H加Od+ H20 = C6H120O + x cal. 1n the above equation， the value for x cal. would be very small， and the nature of CnH1206 resulted differ by di任erentprocess. It can be any one of the monosaccharide， nameJy mannose， galactose， glucose etc. 50 for as the author is aware， the products of aerobic， cellulose decomposition have not been studied to any extent. Once the cellulose is hydrolysed into monosaccharide， itoffers many possibi1ties， such as well known reaction， intermolecular etc.， By an intermolecular reaction : C6HI206 = 2CzH50H + 2CO孟+22 Kca1.2) = 2C3HoOa + 15 Kca1.21 By further oxidation : CZHdOH + 20 = CHsCOOH + HllO + 115 Kcal. Besides these well known， possible reactions， the products produced first may undergo the further decomposition in course of investigation. Conse-quently the exact processes， and the nature of the products in the cellulose decomposition may never be found out exactly. However an attempt is made here to study the products of aerobic d民 ompositionand thermodynamics involved， and it is hoped to obtain some additional information on the subject， which will be reported in near future. I. Thermophilic Cellulose Fermenter. An organism which has received a special attention in the investigation here is an aerobic thermophi1c bacteria of which description wi1l appear later. This organism has been investigated in view of the fact that the aerobic cellulose fermenter has received veηr litle attention in past， although 1 believe 1) F. H. GETMAN， Outli田 sofTheo問 ticalChemistry， 3Jd Edition. 2) M. RUBNER， Archiv. f. Hygine，48. 1904， 2句. 51， 1906， 161. A. I'uTTER， Vergleichende Physiolr唱ie，1911，31. 218 A. ITANO: it plays a very important role in the process and subsequently in agricul旬re.Thermophilic nature of this organism enables it to work at high temperature which is often reached in composting， where the temperature rises up to 7S0C often. m. Practical Appli伺世on.In recent years， the study on the role of organic matter in soil fertility has become acute.1】 SCHREINERSlstated “It is only by continually supplying organic matter that the soil-forming， soil fertility promoting， dynamic changes can continue to go on unchecked and undiminished， liberating ammonia and other compounds， supplying energァforbacterial life and furthering nitrification and nitrogen fixationぺ Furtherthe same author stated，“If we wouJd under-stand soil fertility as influenced by orga1Uc ma/lures， green manures， and good farming methods we must study not 50 much the organic content， except it be 回 akey to these dynamic jactors， but the orga凶cchemical changes them-selves which affect soil fertility must be clearly worked out. In this自eldof research activity much remains to be done ". While the scientific investigations named previously have been in pro-gress， the practical experiments have been carried out during the last one year and half to obtain a desirable organic farm-yard manure， or composting on the basis of scientific information available. A brief abstract of the method will be given below and the detail description will be published later : 1. The materials used ; Straw， weeds， garbage， street sweeping， plant residue， rice hask， kuman manuye， and any other organic waste materials may be used. 2. The zymotic chamber ; The chamber is so constructed that permits as much oxidation as possible to take place in course of fermentation. The use of thermo-philic fermenter is made freely in case it is necessaηr. 3. The products ; The content of the chamber is taken out after the temperature fals down and becomes constant， on average， it requires about three weeks. The compost thus produced seems to be well fermented as that pro・duced by an ordinary method of composting which requires much longer time. The chemical composition of the product varies as the initial materials which are put into the cha~ber vary. An average of some回mpleswere produced from rice straw， barley straw (fresh and 1) Syrnpollium on“Soil Deterioration "，J. Amer. Soc. of Agmnomy， 18，2， 1926. 2) O. ScHREINER， ibid， p.121・Sludies on lheωllul四時. 219 some used once on roof)， rice hasks， and weeds， gave the following composition. Total nitrogen， " pot舗 slum，" phosphates， Percentage. 2.00 1.44 0.85 IV. Snmma.ry and Conclusiono. 1. 1n the fieId of dynamic studies of organic matter especially of cellu-lose in agriculture， more extensive as well as intensive research investigョtionshould be carried out. 2. The thermodynarnical study in the general microbial processes spe-cialIy on the soil microor2'anisms should be investigated in order to obtain better knowledgt: of soil fertiIty. 3. The thermophilic ceIlulose fermenter seems to act vigorously on the ceIIulose in course of composting as well as on highly re日nedceIIulose in culture medium. 4. A speciaIIy constructed zymotic chamber seems to aid in producing the desirable compost out of various waste materials in comparatively short time without the aid of cattle. 5. Such method of composting may be employed in a large scale as a pr∞ess of disposing the w回 tematerials in city as well田 onthe farm. 

Studies on the cellulose.* (Publlation on cellulose No. I.)

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