STUDIES ON THE ESTIMATION OF GLYCEROL, FRUCTOSE AND LACTIC ACID WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO SEMEN

Abstract

SUMMARY Zinc sulphate and either barium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide are suitable deproteinizing agents for estimating glycerol, fructose or lactic acid in semen. The stability of the glycerol and lactic acid colour is fairly good. The fructose colour, however, is likely to increase appreciably on standing for an hour unless the tubes are heated for 20 minutes at 80–85°C. instead of the usual 10 minutes. Potassium metaperiodate is preferable to sodium paraperiodate in the estimation of glycerol as it gives a calibration curve with a steeper slope. The glycerol method can be used for the estimation of glycerylphosphorylcholine in semen if fructose is first removed by copper‐lime treatment. Barium‐zinc extracts of fructose and lactic acid were found to be stable normally for several weeks in a refrigerator. Contamination with yeast organisms can, however, cause a rapid fall in the fructose content.