β-Pyrazol-1-ylalanine, an amino acid from water-melon seeds (Citrullus vulgaris)

Paper chromatography has been used extensively to study the free amino acids present in a wide variety of plant species. Comprehensive reviews describe the chemical and biological properties of many of these acids This paper describes the isolation and identification of another acid, ,pyrazol-1-ylalanine (I), which forms a major com- ponent of the soluble nitrogen fraction of water- melon seeds. A preliminary account has been given by Noe & Fowden (1959). The possibility that