Abstract
From a biological standpoint, the natural glycosides comprise one of the important groups of carbohydrates. Many of the colored pigments of flowers, the natural occurring dyestuffs and aromatic principles, and drugs such as heart-stimulating (cardiac) glycosides are of glycosidic nature. |In the plant materials from which the glycosides are obtained by extraction, the corresponding enzymes are often to be found. If care Is not taken to destroy the enzyme, hydrolysis of the glycoside may take place and erroneus conclusions be drawn concerning the sugars present,