The occurrence of methylated carbohydrates and rhamnose as components of soil polysaccharides

A complex of polysaccharides and humic substances has been extracted from various soils. Somewhat impure syrupy fractions have been obtained by partition chromatography of the hydrolysate on a cellulose column, and the methoxyl content of these fractions approximated to that required for a monomethyl hexose. Demethylation and examination of the products on the paper chromatogram indicated that the products were hexoses, probably galactose and glucose. A rich soil contained a total of about 0.006% of the syrupy methylated fraction. The demonstration of the presence of methylated sugars in soil indicates a wider distribution of these substances than hitherto supposed. The soil polysaccharide hydrolysate also appeared to contain L‐rhamnose, and a rich soil contained about 0.006% of this fraction.