Acid‐soluble Nucleotides of Juice Vesicles of Citrus Fruit

Nucleotides from fruit of “Orlando” tangelo (Citrus reticulata x C. paradisz) and “Hamlin” and “Pineapple” sweet oranges (C. sinensis) extracted with perchloric acid, were separated by anion‐exchange chromatography using formic acid:aqueous ammonium formate as the eluting solvent. Tentative identification of the various fractions was made by comparing the retention time of unknowns with standards fractionated by the same procedure and by adsorption spectral analyses. With the use of these methods, acid‐soluble nucleotides were found to be present in appreciable quantities in mature fruit. Those in concentration that could be tentatively identified were CMP, AMP, CDP, UMP, ADP, CTP, GDP, UDP and ATP. The latter was further assayed by the luciferin‐luciferase method. The possible significance of the nucleotides to fruit quality was discussed.