Abstract
THE mealworm, Tenebrio molitor, has recently been shown to be a very suitable test subject for folic acid and certain other, still unidentified B-factors. When grown on an artificial diet consisting of casein (20 parts), glucose (80 parts), water-insoluble fraction from yeast (2·5 parts), cholesterol (1 part), a salt mixture (2 parts), and aneurin, ribo-flavin, nicotinic acid, pyridoxin, pantothenic acid, choline chloride and inositol in ample amounts, at least two more factors are essential for growth and survival, folic acid and a factor contained in a norite filtrate from yeast or liver extract1,2. In view of the present interest in the folic acid group and its relation to anti-anaemia principles, our recent results on the mealworm may be of general interest. Throughout this report the term folic acid has been used to denote pteroylglutamie acid.
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FRAENKEL, G., BLEWETT, M. & COLES, M. BT, A New Vitamin of the B-Group and its Relation to the Folic Acid Group, and Other Anti-AnÆmia Factors. Nature 161, 981–983 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/161981a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/161981a0
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