Flavin-adenine dinucleotide and diaphorase in resting and germinated spores, and vegetative cells of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus megatherium

The method described in the present work allows the purity of the solution under test for tocopherols to be assessed and also enables the separation of the commonly occurring a-, y-and 8-tocopherols to be achieved. Applications of the method to the examination of several oils indicate the usefulness of the method. For example, the presence of 8- tocopherol in soya-bean oil is readily ascertained, whereas its existence escaped detection by con- ventional methods for many years. In addition, the substance in cocksfoot grass which gives a colour with diazotized o-dianisidine is shown to be different from any of the known tocopherols in its behaviour on the chromatogram. Similarly, a non-tocopherol ferric-reducing substance which is not removed by the saponification, adsorption and crystallization processes is present in wheat-germ oil.