Karl Heinrich Ritthausen (13 January 1826 – 16 October 1912) was a German
biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...
who identified two
amino acid
Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...
s and made other contributions to the science of plant
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
s.
Education
Ritthausen was born in Armenruh, near
Goldburg,
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
,
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
, in today's
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
.
Ritthausen's first advanced education in
chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
was in Leipzig and Bonn. He began to do research in Giessen with
Justus von Liebig
Justus Freiherr von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 20 April 1873) was a German scientist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and is considered one of the principal founders of organic chemistry. As a professor at t ...
, and was inspired to continue investigation into
agricultural chemistry
Agricultural chemistry is the study of chemistry, especially organic chemistry and biochemistry, as they relate to agriculture—agricultural production, the processing of raw products into foods and beverages, and environmental monitoring and re ...
. He returned to Leipzig to study with
Otto Linné Erdmann
Otto Linné Erdmann (11 April 1804 – 9 October 1869) was a German chemist. He was the son of Karl Gottfried Erdmann, the physician who introduced vaccination into Saxony.
He was born in Dresden on 11 April 1804. In 1820 he began to attend the ...
. He was awarded the doctorate degree in 1853. The
agricultural experiment station
An agricultural experiment station (AES) or agricultural research station (ARS) is a scientific research center that investigates difficulties and potential improvements to food production and agribusiness. Experiment station scientists work with f ...
s at Möckern and Ida-Marienhütte were the locations of his first professional appointments. In 1862 he began to publish articles on the proteins of
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
.
Protein chemistry
The site of the experiment station became Poppelsdorf in 1867 when Ritthausen became professor of chemistry at
University of Bonn
The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...
. Working with
gliadin
Gliadin (a type of prolamin) is a class of proteins present in wheat and several other cereals within the grass genus ''Triticum''. Gliadins, which are a component of gluten, are essential for giving bread the ability to rise properly during baki ...
, he identified α-aminoglutaric acid or
glutamic acid
Glutamic acid (symbol Glu or E; the ionic form is known as glutamate) is an α-amino acid that is used by almost all living beings in the biosynthesis of proteins. It is a non-essential nutrient for humans, meaning that the human body can synt ...
in 1866. Then he identified
aspartic acid
Aspartic acid (symbol Asp or D; the ionic form is known as aspartate), is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Like all other amino acids, it contains an amino group and a carboxylic acid. Its α-amino group is in the pro ...
in an
almond
The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...
extract. These findings extended chemical awareness of
functional group
In organic chemistry, a functional group is a substituent or moiety in a molecule that causes the molecule's characteristic chemical reactions. The same functional group will undergo the same or similar chemical reactions regardless of the rest ...
s in protein, and appeared in the ''Journal für Praktische Chemie''. Ritthausen published ''Protein bodies in grains, legumes, and linseed. Contributions to the physiology of seeds for cultivation, nutrition, and fodder'' in 1872, summarizing the science of
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
s in relation to
plant physiology
Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology (structure of plants), plant ecology (interactions with the environment), phytochemistry (bi ...
and
animal nutrition
Animal nutrition focuses on the dietary nutrients needs of animals, primarily those in agriculture and food production, but also in zoos, aquariums, and wildlife management.
Constituents of diet
Macronutrients (excluding fiber and water) provide ...
. While in Bonn he got married.
From 1873 to 1899, Ritthausen was professor of chemistry at
University of Königsberg
The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Prussi ...
. He retired, moved to Berlin in 1903, and died there on 16 October 1912.
Appreciation
In hi
biographyof Ritthausen,
Thomas Burr Osborne stated his admiration:
:If we are to judge Ritthausen’s work fairly we must remember that it was begun under the influence of Liebig’s erroneous assumption that only a few forms of protein existed; that at that time
organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J.; ...
was in its infancy; that few methods were known that proteins might be isolated from the
tissues containing them, or by which different proteins could be separated from one another and be purified; that the only means for preventing the changes caused by
bacteria
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...
and
enzyme
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...
s were low temperatures; and that the facilities for conducting such investigations were very limited. To the writer, who has had a long experience in the same field, under vastly more favorable conditions prevailing a generation later, it is astounding that Ritthausen accomplished so much, and that the data that he secured were in the main so accurate.
Technical advances by Ritthausen were cited in 1942:
:Ritthausen's accomplishments were, first, the discovery of glutamic and aspartic acids as products of the hydrolysis of proteins; second, the realization that
hydrolysis
Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution reaction, substitution, elimination reaction, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water ...
is the only method of decomposition of proteins that leads to decomposition products truly characteristic of the original protein molecule; third, the statement that these decomposition products are
amino acid
Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...
s, which are formed in proportions characteristic of the particular protein from which they are derived—this statement laid the foundation of our present-day methods of amino acid analysis of proteins; and, fourth, the statement that if proteins differ in amino acid composition, they should also differ in nutritive value to the animal.
[Hubert Bradford Vickery (1942) "Liebig and the Proteins", ]Journal of Chemical Education
The ''Journal of Chemical Education'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal available in both print and electronic versions. It is published by the Division of Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society and was established in 1924 ...
A
/www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ia/blumenzeitung09hssl#page/400/mode/2up bibliographyof Ritthausen’s works was published in 1913 by the ''Biochemical Bulletin'' 2:339–46. It was assembled by Lewis W. Fetzer of
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
and the
U.S. Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
.
References
*
* K.H. Ritthausen (1872
Die Eiweisskörper der Getreidearten, Hülsenfrüchte und Ölsamen. Beiträge zur Physiologie der Samen der Kulturgewachese, der Nahrungs- und Futtermitel, Bonn, 1872from
Google books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritthausen, Karl Heinrich
German biochemists
1826 births
1912 deaths