The Amino-Acids of Grass Pollen

Abstract

Pollens collected from nine grass species were analysed for ammonia, urea, glutamine, asparagine, amino-nitrogen, total soluble nitrogen, and total nitrogen. Four grass pollens were also assayed microbiologically for 17 individual amino-acids. Wide variations in composition were found between pollens from different grasses. Soluble nitrogen was in most cases relatively high in proportion to the total nitrogen. Asparagine occurred in much greater amount than glutamine. Of the free amino-acids, the most abundant was proline, its content in the perennial ryegrass pollen reaching 1·65 per cent, of the dry weight of the pollen.