Distribution of Thiamin and Riboflavin in the Tomato Plant

The vitamin content of plant material has been extensively studied during the last few years but these studies have dealt almost exclusively with single organs of a plant, such as fruits or other edible part, and onla few have been concerned with the distribution of these vitamins within the plant. The investigations that have had as their objective the determination of the quantity of a particular vitamin in different parts of a plant have, in general, shown that the young parts contain more vitamin than the older parts. LAMPITT, BAKER, and PARKINSON (8) found that ascorbic acid was present in highest concentration in young leaves and young tubers of the potato plant. RYTZ (9) found that in the pea plant there was a decrease in thiamin as the plant aged, the leaves always containing more than the stem, which had a higher concentration than the roots. Flower buds were on par with young leaves. BURKHOLDER and MCVEIGH (3) observed that in corn seedlings the embryo leaves contained most thiamin and, as the leaves became older, there was a decrease. The same authors (4) found that thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and B, (the antianemic factor) increased in the buds of trees as they opened but again there was a decrease as the leaves matured. On the other hand, BURKHOLDER and SNOW (5) noted that in forest trees the buds contained more thiamin than the leaves. BONNER (1) and BONNER and DORLAND (2) found that the youngest tomato leaves contained the highest concentration of thiamin, riboflavin, and pantothenic acid. There was also a gradient in the stem with the younger part having more vitamin than the older part. The roots had a higher concentration of riboflavin and pantothenic acid than any part of the stem, but thiamin was present in a higher concentration in the young stem than in the root. The present work has as its purpose to extend the work on distribution of vitamins in the tomato plant.