51�Թ�

As the names indicate, the non-cellulose component in the first group is lignin; in the second, pectic substances; and in the third, fats or waxes.

It is eaten under the name of “Tuckahoe” in the United States, and as it consists almost entirely of pectic acid, it is sometimes used in the manufacture of jelly.

The 'pectic' group consequently must be extended to include hydrated and soluble forms of the mixed complex of condensed and unsaturated groups with normal carbohydrates, such as constitute the fibrous lignocelluloses.

The characteristic constituent of unripe fruit, however, is pectose, an element insoluble in water, but which, as maturation proceeds, is transformed into pectic and pectosic acids.

Other enzymes, known as "pectinases," which coagulate the soluble pectins or pectic acids into insoluble jellies in the tissues of the plants seem to aid the plant in resisting the penetration by the parasite.