Studies in the respiratory and carbohydrate metabolism of plant tissues III. Experimental studies of the formation of carbon dioxide and of the changes in lactic acid and other products in potato tubers in air following anaerobic conditions

Abstract

This paper is the third in a series dealing with the anaerobic metabolism of potato tubers. In the two earlier papers (Barker & Saifi 1952 a, b ) we considered the changes which occurred during exclusion of oxygen, in the rate of CO 2 production and in the contents o sugar, lactic acid, alcohol and of an unidentified alcohol-soluble fraction. This paper is concerned with the influence of air following a period of anaerobiosis. The data given in the present paper showed that on transfer from the anaerobic to the aerobic state there was an increase in the rate of CO 2 production above the normal aerobic level, followed by a fall towards this level. Associated with this so-called after-effect there was a rapid disappearance of the lactic acid which had accumulated during the period in nitrogen and a quick increase in the sugar content, followed by a slower decrease. These experimental results are analyzed in the fourth paper in the series (page 522).