A rapid screening method for estimation of total fermentable value of selected plant materials.

Abstract

Plant material is heated at 105°C in trifluoroacetic acid. After neutralisation and dilution, the reducing substances in this solution are determined by an automated colorimetric procedure, using 3,5 dinitrosalicylic acid. The resulting figure, described in this paper as the total fermentable value is used as an estimate of certain carbohydrate substances, for example starch and sugars in the sample. The method is manipulatively simple, and is suitable for screening of large batches of plant samples. The precision for a single determination is ±2.7%.