Studies on Cycasin,a New Toxic Glycoside,of Cycas revoluta Thunb

The enzymatic hydrolysis of cycasin with cycad-emulsin, prepared from the seeds of Cycas revoluta, is described. As the complete degradation products we obtained about one mole each of formaldehyde, nitrogen gas, and methanol per mole of cycasin, in addition to glucose, the sugar component. These products are the same as those found in the acid hydrolysis of cycasin which has been reported previously. Therefore, it is concluded that the aglycone of cycasin can not be liberated intact as a single component, but decomposes into those smaller molecules as above even by means of the enzymatic hydrolysis.