Seeds of 20 species and cultivars of legumes, growing in Austria, were examinated for the arginin antagonist canavanine. Species of practical importance for food and feed were essentially low (less than 0.04) or void of this amino acid. Only excessive feeding of Medicago sativa (0.6 canavanine in seeds) or Vicia villosa (1–2) may detoriate the metabolism. The datas are in accordance with the chemical taxonomy ofTurner, HarborneandBellfor legumes. On the other hand, the occurrence of small amounts of canavanine in Allium cepa (onion), a Liliaceae, proves that the genetic factors for the biosynthesis of canavanine are not confined to Papilionoideae but have a wider distributio
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