• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.37-41
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• 2000

This study has been carried out to investigate the chemical composition of Acorus calamus L., a wild plant (Chang Po) which has long been used as a medicine or a hair rinse in Korea and China. Potassium was found to be the most predominant mineral in leaf and root, followed by calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus, in a decreasing order. Contents of potassium in leaf and root account for 54a.65 mg% and 242.87 mg%, respectively. Contents of these minerals in leaf were higher value than that in root. Glucose and fructose were found to be the major free sugars in leaf and root. Malic acid was the most abundant organic acid of leaf and root, and followed by citric acid. Fourteen different kinds of fatty acids were identified from the leaf and root. Content of unsaturated fatty acids. such as linolenic, and linoleic acid ware higher than that of saturated fatty acids. Content of total amino acids was 3 times higher in leaf than that in root. Leucine was the major amino acid in leaf and glutamic acid in root.