GENERAL ARTICLE

The Life and Times of Kamala Bhagvat Sohonie

The Unsung Hero of Science in India

Anirban Mitra

Kamala Sohonie battled gender-based prejudice to gain entry

into India’s premier research institution. She went on to have
a dazzling career while working with the world’s foremost
biochemists at Cambridge and later became one of India’s
premier scientists. Her research immensely contributed to the
discipline of Nutrition and Dietetics. A socially-committed
individual, her scientific projects tried to be in sync with the Anirban Mitra did his
needs of her country. In this article, we present facets of her PhD from the Department
colourful life – her passions, struggles and ideals. of Microbiology and Cell
Biology, IISc, Bengaluru
Introduction and is a teacher of biology.
His interests range from
When the great mathematician Bhaskara II wrote his magnum biological evolution to
history of science and
opus, the Siddhanta Shiromani in the 12th century, he divided the
facets of India’s past.
treatise into four major volumes. The first volume – Lilavati –
shared its name with Bhaskara’s daughter. Indeed, it was written
as if father and daughter were engaged in a lively dialogue over
arithmetic. Thus, although there is no historical information
about Lilavati, it can be assumed that she must have been an
exceptionally talented lady to have featured so prominently in
this iconic book.

Lilavati was lucky, and Bhaskara II deserves praise for nurturing

his daughter’s academic talents. Sadly, for the vast majority of
India’s women, this was not the case. Though the ladies of royal
and elite households did receive some education, their public role
was limited. And, not surprisingly, the common womenfolk fared Keywords
much worse. Rigorously shunned from education and creative Kamala Sohonie, women in sci-
ence, gender bias, research on
pursuits, and cooped in the interior of the homes, 50% of India’s
vitamins, proteins in diet, thia-
population had become effectively reduced to ‘baby-producing minase, trypsin inhibitor, palm
factories’ for centuries. That this social backwardness was an nectar (Neera).

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For centuries, the unacceptable crime was known to the social reformers of the 19th
women of the Indian century. In 1894, during his maiden visit to USA, Swami
subcontinent had Vivekananda wrote, How pure, independent, self-relying, and kind-
been denied hearted! It is the women who are the life and soul of this country. All
opportunities to learning and culture are centred in them….And look at our girls,
study and nurture becoming mothers below their teens!!…. We are horrible sinners,
their academic and and our degradation is due to our calling women “despicable
creative talents. This worms”, “gateways to hell”, and so forth…[1]. Vivekananda was
social lacuna was not alone in his efforts. Rammohan Roy, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar
deeply resented by and Savitribai Phule had all contributed towards the emancipation
the social reformers. of Indian women. In the 1880s, Mahendra Lal Sircar, founder of the
Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in Calcutta, had
carried on a relentless campaign to ensure that girls would opt for
the study of medicine.

The efforts of the iconic reformers were especially necessary

because of the all-pervading shadow of colonial rule. For 150 years,
unbridled exploitation had broken the Indian people. Additionally,
Indians had been taught that they were ‘inferior’ and could never
match the intellectual level of the Europeans [2]. Since the 1890s,
scientists like J C Bose and P C Ray had been proving this racial
theory to be obsolete, but it was still a long way to go before the
nation could match up to the scientific advances of the West. And
then, as the 20th century progressed, the struggle against British
colonialism – for the emancipation and self-determination of every
Indian man and woman — intensified. Kamala Bhagvat was born
The struggle on 18th June, 1911 at Bombay, during this tumultuous phase of
against British India’s history. In time, she would make her own significant
colonialism was not contribution towards breaking the shackles that have enchained
only political. It was Indian women.
about proving that
Early Career, Struggle for Recognition and First Victory
Indians were not
inferior to The Bhagvats were a respectable family. The brothers (Kamala’s
Europeans in any father and uncle), Narayanrao and Madhavrao, alumni of the Bombay
sphere, including in University [3, 4, 5], were among the first chemistry students to
the basic and graduate from the prestigious Tata Institute of Sciences (now
applied sciences. Indian Institute of Science – IISc), Bangalore. Later, they both

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worked for the Tata Co. and Narayanrao finally set up his own
business for soap manufacture. Little Kamala grew up admiring
her father and uncle and it was ‘natural’ that she would also be a
student of chemistry. A brilliant mind, Kamala enrolled at the
renowned St. Xaviers’ College and topped the BSc (physics and
chemistry) examination of the Bombay University. Then, as was
her ‘family tradition’, she applied to the masters’ course at IISc,
Bangalore. A nasty shock awaited her – prompt rejection by the
then-director C V Raman who reportedly said [6], I am not going
to take any girls in my institute!

What had happened? Why was Kamala considered ineligible?

Almost no records of Kamala’s personal reminiscences of the
incident have survived. But, previous chroniclers and Kamala’s
family agree it was a case of gender bias. C V Raman may have
been one of the great scientific minds of the past century, but he
also held very strong social prejudices. Some scholars have sug-
gested that casteist beliefs played a role in his ideas, including
those about science [6]. Relationship within his own family may
have been tarnished for this ‘attitude problem’. It was almost no
wonder that Kamala was at the receiving end of his prejudice
against the intellectual abilities of women. Kamala was, however,
made of different mettle. Convinced that research in science was
her calling, and with full faith in the then-novel Gandhian method
of Satyagraha, the young lady took on the Nobel Laureate. She
demanded reasons for his decision to deny her admission, and kept
doing a Gandhian-style dharna in front of Raman’s office. With no
strong official justification to back his order, Raman had to retract!
He agreed to allow her to join but on rather humiliating terms: 1)
Kamala would not be a regular student, but on probation; her final
selection would depend on whether the director was satisfied with
her progress after one year, 2) she would have to work late into the
nights, under the supervision of her guide and 3) Kamala must not
be a distraction to her male colleagues – undoubtedly a sexist slur.
22-year old Kamala accepted it all, but she never forgot the insult.
Usually a quiet, unassuming person, she recalled the incident years
later [4, 5], Though Raman was a great scientist, he was very

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Stalwarts who influenced

Kamala’s career:
(A) C V Raman, Director of
IISc, Bangalore who refused
Kamala entrance to the in-
stitute.
(B) M Sreenivasaya,
Kamala’s mentor at IISc.
(C) Derek Richter,
(D) Robin Hill and
(E) Fredrick G Hopkins
– Kamala’s three supervi-
sors at Cambridge Univer-
sity.
Courtesy: Photos A, C, D, E
from en.wikipedia.org; Photo B
from A Glimpse of the 75
Years…, a souvenir published
by the Department of Microbi-
ology and Cell Biology, IISc,
Bengaluru.

narrow-minded. I can never forget the way he treated me just

because I was a woman. This was a great insult to me. The bias
against women was so bad at that time. What can one expect if even
a Nobel Laureate behaves in such a manner?

Thus, in 1933–34, Kamala found herself at India’s premier re-

search institution. She had already flung the gauntlet at Raman by
saying that she would prove herself by securing a distinction, and
now she threw her heart and soul into it. It was at IISc that Kamala
would find a ‘guru’ who would make a lasting impression on her
life. M Sreenivasaya of the Department of Biochemistry was a
remarkable scientist. One of the pioneers of research in microbiol-
ogy in India, he would eventually establish the institute’s Fermen-
tation Technology Unit (a few years later, the FTU would give rise
Kamala’s first major to the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology). As a teacher,
training and success he was caring yet fiercely demanding of his students. Under his
in science came guidance, Kamala tried to characterize the various proteins present
under the able in milk, legumes and pulses.’ [3,4]. By1936, her efforts had been
guidance of M rewarded with five research-articles, with two of them published in
Sreenivasaya. Biochemical Journal. Kamala’s first paper, ‘Non-protein nitrogen

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of pulses’, published in April 1935 involved characterization of

non-protein nitrogen content of nine of the well-known Indian
pulses [7]. This NPN fraction was shown to contain the simpler,
easily digestible and assimilable peptides, important for boosting
the nutrition of children and invalids. The next year, Kamala
presented a more detailed analysis of the amino acid content of
the NPN from the pulses, and had further characterized the
nutrients of milk – paving the way for her MSc degree [8–10]. It
was more than a scientific victory. C V Raman would never again
prevent women from becoming scientists – soon his own labora-
tory would have a number of female students who, given a
chance, excelled in their own discipline [6]. A silent revolution
had been fought and won.

Zenith at Cambridge

Cambridge University now beckoned Kamala. After a brief ten-

ure at the Haffkine Institute for Training, Research and Testing,
Bombay, in 1937, she sailed the seas and joined the group of the
renowned neurochemist, Derek Richter at the Biochemical and
Physiological Laboratory, Cambridge. Richter’s group had re-
cently identified ‘monoamine oxidase’, a key enzyme involved in
metabolism of neurotransmitters like adrenaline, noradrenaline,
serotonin and histamine. Kamala already had some experience of
this topic at Haffkine’s, and her initial work at the Richter lab
involved comparative studies of homologs of this enzyme in
several invertebrates [11]. In 1939, in a paper crisply titled
‘Amine oxidases’, she substantiated the study with a detailed
characterization of the enzyme from brain, liver, spleen, intestine
and pancreas of several mammalian species [12]. Both the
research articles published from the Richter lab show that, at this
stage, Kamala was a recipient of ‘Scholarship from the Univer-
sity of Bombay for Springer Research’ – the first Indian to do so
– and also the ‘Sir Nathubhai Scholarship’. Soon after that,
Richter left Cambridge, and Kamala joined the group of the
legendary Robert Hill.

Hill, known by his pet name ‘Robin’, was an outstanding re-

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searcher. He was known for elucidating properties of haemoglo-

bin and myoglobin, and famous as the discoverer of cytochrome
C and the ‘Hill reaction’ of photosynthesis. Not surprisingly,
Kamala’s tenure in the Hill lab would be a golden phase of her
entire career. He guided her to study the mitochondrial enzyme
cytochrome oxidase in plant tissues. The resultant publication in
Nature (April 1939) – titled ‘Cytochrome oxidase in flowering
plants’ – involved isolation and characterization of succinate
dehydrogenase and cytochrome oxidase from germinating seeds
and other tissues of monocotyledons and dicotyledons’ [13].
Kamala and Hill concluded that ‘this now proves the presence of
a true cytochrome oxidase in the higher plants and a respiratory
mechanism identical with that found in yeast and animals….a
confirmation of the general presence of the cytochrome system in
aerobic organisms….

The silent girl from India had indeed come a long way. Impressed
by her abilities, her mentors suggested she apply for a fellowship
to work at the famed laboratory of Nobel Laureate Fredrick G
Hopkins – whose landmark discovery about the importance of
vitamins in diet had revolutionized knowledge about biochemis-
try and nutrition. Kamala applied, won the fellowship and joined
the Hopkins lab ~1939. Neither pubmed.com nor Google Scholar
lists any of Kamala’s publications with Hopkins as correspond-
ing author; so, at present, it is unclear what the focus of her
research at the Hopkins lab was. However, given that the other
cited publications from the Hopkins lab of this period predomi-
nantly dealt with the biochemistry of glutathione, ascorbic acid
and study of related enzymes, it is quite possible that Kamala was
working on these biomolecules, perhaps with a thrust on biologi-
cal redox reactions. Encouraged by Hopkins, Kamala submitted
her PhD thesis, where she described the universality of the
cytochrome system and its role in the respiration of plant cells. It
was a remarkably short thesis of only 40 pages, and in sharp
contrast to the ‘normal ones’ which contained hundreds. But, the
review committee was impressed and Kamala became the first
Indian woman to receive a doctorate from the acclaimed Cam-
bridge University.

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The Call of the Motherland? A patriotic

individual, Kamala
However, Kamala’s stint at Hopkins lab was only for a short time
returned to India
– at the most, one year. It is unclear why Kamala left Cambridge to contribute to
in 1939, when she was certainly on the right track to outstanding
the nation’s
success in science – something that was unlikely to be attained progress.
with the very limited infrastructure available in pre-independent
India. It could have been family constraints, or the desire to settle
in one’s homeland. It could have been multifactorial. Her son Anil
has an interesting and admirable perspective. In an e-mail re-
sponse to the author, he replied, she was patriotic and actually
returned home from Cambridge to give her might to the freedom
movement…very influenced by the Mahatma…did take part in
rallies in Bombay….she may have earned a Nobel had she not
[returned]…. Her family adds, She had excellent offers from US
pharma companies, but her nationalistic spirit prevailed. She
joined Gandhi’s national movement, gave up jewellery and wore
only khadi sarees. Considering the battles that Kamala had fought
for her own rights and the influence of Gandhi on her actions, this
is quite possible – and it certainly shows Kamala as an exception-
ally sensitive individual and a gem among professional scientists.

It is noteworthy that by the 1930s, India’s anti-colonial struggle

had become a truly mass movement and few were not swayed. Kamala Bhagvat during her
This was also the time when the Planning Committee (the forerun- tenure as faculty at Nutrition
ner of the Planning Commission), established by Jawaharlal Nehru Research Laboratory,
Coonoor (mid-1940s).
and Subhas Chandra Bose, had sought the advice of scientists like
Courtesy: Anil Sohonie
Meghnad Saha and technocrats like M Visveswaraiah to draw the
blueprint of a modern, science-guided nation [14]. It is not un-
likely that Kamala’s liberal heart was stirred by it all. Still, to
sacrifice a dazzling career for such a cause is rare and perhaps
makes Kamala a beacon for future generations – one who strives
to strike an optimum balance between professional success, cre-
ative joy and social/patriotic commitment.

Research on Vitamins at Coonoor

Thus, in 1939, Kamala returned to India. She worked briefly at the

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Work at NRL, Bombay Municipality and then was appointed Head of the newly-
Coonoor focused on opened Department of Biochemistry at the Lady Hardinge Medi-
developing cal College, New Delhi. It seems she found the work environment
techniques to not very conducive and, after a while, joined the Nutrition
accurately estimate Research Laboratory (NRL) at Coonoor as the Assistant Director.
the amount of Kamala’s passion and expertise on nutrients was certainly in sync
various vitamins in with the focus of NRL’s research. Her experience at the Hopkins
foodstuffs. lab must have helped, because by 1944, her group had a steady
series of publications on the biochemistry of ascorbic acid (vita-
min C), thiamin (vitamin B1) and nicotinic acid (of vitamin B
complex) [15–23]. There were other projects too – such as on the
toxic effects of Lathyrus sativus (Khesari dal) on guinea pigs
[24], and liberation of amino acids from proteins (perhaps a
‘follow up’ of her work at IISc). But, the overwhelming focus of
the Bhagvat lab was on developing foolproof methods – chemical
and microbiological – for the accurate estimation of the various
vitamins present in different sources of food. More than seven
decades later, in this era of genomics and proteomics, this might
not seem to be a big deal; but, in the context of her times, Kamala
and her students were clearly laboring to systematically lay down
the groundwork based upon which the science of nutrition and
dietetics would flourish – and provide the scientific guidelines to
improve the health of the severely-undernourished Indian popu-
lation. Kamala was, by any standards, a prolific ‘publisher’; by
1947, her lab at NRL had churned out at least sixteen research
articles. Success was certainly there. But, it is reported that a
feeling of professional frustration also crept into her; lack of
future prospects may have been a reason for her resigning from
NRL.

The Scientist and Homemaker at Bombay

Another reason was certainly personal. By this time, Kamala had

met Madhav Sohonie, a bright student of actuarial science at
London University. As their son recalled, It was not an arranged
marriage, but obviously my father sought proper consent from
her father before proposing. Thus, Kamala Bhagvat became
Kamala Sohonie and shifted back to her hometown in 1947. By

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all records, Kamala and Madhav’s match was a union of two From the family album –
brilliant minds, and their sons – Anil (born April, 1950) and Left: Kamala and Madhav
Jayant (born May, 1951) grew up admiring their parents. In Anil’s Sohonie,
Right: Kamala with her sons,
words, Yes. She was a very remarkable lady and I say so even
Anil and Jayant.
though she was my mother….she was an absolute mother, cooked Courtesy: Anil Sohonie.
the food every day, ran a clean and neat well-functioning
home….always had time for her two sons and husband…she was
much admired and appreciated by everyone in the family and
extended family too….

Increased commitments to her new family do not seem to have

reduced Kamala’s scientific output. Professionally, by this time,
she had joined the newly established Biochemistry Department of
the Royal Institute of Science, Bombay, (presently Institute of
Science, Mumbai). Now there was a distinct shift in the focus of
the Sohonie group. Estimation of vitamins gave way to three
major topics – 1) characterization of trypsin inhibitors and thia-
minase in various food sources, 2) estimation of protein and other
nutrients in foodstuff, mainly various legumes, fishes and veg-
etables, and 3) the most famous project – the health benefits of the
palm nectar, Neera.

The ‘thiaminase projects’ systematically characterized the vari-

ous enzymes which catalyze the breakdown of vitamin B1 (thia-
min), and explored their major dietary source – fishes, especially
the ones that were popular among the fish eaters of Bombay and
neighbouring regions [25–27]. The studies on ‘trypsin inhibi-

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The Sohonie tors’, which resulted in at least 2 ‘letters to the editor’ in the top-
laboratory at Bombay notch journal Nature, elaborated on the features of ‘crystalline
worked on thiaminase trypsin inhibitors’ in several beans and potato [28–30]. She also
and trypsin inhibitors focused on how these inhibitors could affect the digestibility of
present in various proteins present in food – certainly an important topic regarding
foods, the levels of the diet of the population. On the other front, the Sohonie group
various proteins and was interested in evaluating and quantifying the nutrient content
lipids and the of several regularly consumed Indian foods. Kamala seems to
usefulness of Neera have been particularly interested in ‘Bombay fish’ and ‘double
from palm tree. beans’ because a thorough analysis of both foods resulted in two
series’ of research articles – each with five papers [31–32]! There
were other studies on the protein content of green vegetables, and
Kamala states that although these are not good sources of protein,
they are important because they are consumed in high amounts.
Another study identified the lipids present in the sea anemone
Gyrostoma sp. Taken together, this phase of Kamala’s research is
about profiling and cataloguing of the nutritive values of Indian
foods, thus contributing to our knowledge about ‘what to eat and
what not to eat’.

The Benefits of Neera

A meeting with Rajendra Prasad, the President of India, had a

significant effect on Kamala [3,4]. The ‘first citizen’ suggested
that Kamala study the hugely popular drink – sweet toddy or palm
nectar, locally known as Neera. Never one to ignore what the
leader (that too a Gandhian!) had suggested, Kamala pioneered a
systematic analysis of Neera. Her studies established that it had a
good content of vitamin C and other vitamins, and importantly,
there were sulfhydryl compounds in Neera that protected the
vitamins during storage. Not inclined to shortcuts, Kamala sent
her students to various parts of the country to analyze the several
local varieties of Neera and quantify their nutrient contents
[33,34]. A related project dealt with characterizing the properties
of the palm Gur (molasses) [35]. And, she did not stop at that!
Realizing that the cheap, easily accessible Neera and Gur would
be a rich source of supplements for the poor tribal population, she

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went all out popularizing the drink and the molasses – especially
for children and pregnant women. In addition, she also became an
advisor to the Aarey Milk Project Factory, Bombay and devel-
oped a protocol that prevented the curdling of milk. The scientist
had once again stepped beyond the confines of her academic
world, and was contributing directly to the upliftment of her co-
citizens. The grateful nation conferred the Rashtrapati Award to
Kamala. She was also appointed to the post of the Director of the
Institute – a crowning glory which had perhaps been unduly
denied for quite some time. Derek Richter, proud of his ex-
student, exclaimed, She has made history [3, 4].

Work Beyond Retirement

When Kamala retired in 1969, the old projects were still going on,
and resulting in research articles, while newer analyses of en-
zymes such as glutamate decarboxylase and D-Amylase from
beans and identification of several haemagglutinins were under-
way [36–37]. Madhav superannuated at the same time, and it
could have been time to relax, to cook sumptuous dinners and
play tennis (for Kamala excelled in both!). But, that was just not
Kamala’s way of doing things! For the next two decades, Kamala
Sohonie served in the Consumer Guidance Society of India (she
was one of its founder members and later also served as its
Chairperson). It was the first society of its kind in the country, and
significantly contributed towards testing of various foodstuffs
available in the market, and also the quality of weights and
measures used. Later, she designed a kit which could be used by
housewives to test the purity of food ingredients. In a country
where consumer rights are ignored even today, Kamala and co-
workers were pioneers for the rights of citizens, and were also
raising awareness against corrupt practices. In addition, she
penned several books for young students. The notable thing was
that these were written in Marathi; it seems that, like J B S
Haldane, Kamala was trying to popularize science in the subal-
tern, non-elite sections of society.

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The latest edition of Keemat,

the journal of the Consumer
Guidance Society of India.
Kamala was a regular con-
tributor to the journal.
Courtesy: www. cgsiindia.org

The Final Recognition

Kamala had lived a fruitful life. She had emerged victorious on

almost all fronts of her struggle. Was there a lingering sadness
that recognition did not come as much as it should have? Quite
likely – after all, our nation has been rather miserly in honouring
many a deserving hero. In Kamala’s case, however, the State did
make amends. In 1997, she received the National Award for
Excellence and Contribution to Science. And the Indian Council
for Medical Research (in whose official journal she had pub-
lished so regularly) organized a special programme to felicitate
her. As fate would have it, Kamala – finally receiving a standing
ovation from the august audience – collapsed on the stage. A few

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days later, she passed away with the happiness of the creative
genius who has finally received the well-earned honour. The
mortal remains perished. But, the ideas and ideals she champi-
oned are immortal, and this nation will always be indebted to
Prof. Kamala Sohonie.

Acknowledgements

Prof. Dipshikha Chakravortty (IISc, Bangalore) for the concept

and encouragement; Mr. Anil M. Sohonie and Mrs. Pallavi
Sohonie for sharing their experiences and perspectives, and the
rare photographs.

Suggested Reading

[1] Swami Vivekananda, The complete works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 6, Epistles, 2nd series, XLI.
[2] Sumit Sarkar, Modern India 1885–1947, Macmillan Publishers India, 1983.
[3] Rohini Godbole and Ram Ramaswamy (Eds), Lilavati’s Daughters – The Women Scientists of India, Indian
Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru, 2010.
[4] Arvind Gupta, Bright Sparks: Inspiring Indian scientists from the past, INSA, 2009
[5] Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay, Kamala Sohonie: First Indian woman PhD in science, Science and Culture, Vol.81,
pp.128–130, 2015.
[6] Abha Sur, Dispersed radiance: women scientists in C V Raman’s laboratory, Meridians, Vol.1, pp.95–127, 2001.
[7] K Bhagvat and M Sreenivasaya, The non-protein nitrogen of pulses, Biochemical J., Vol.29, pp.909–913, 1935.
[8] K Bhagvat and M Sreenivasaya, A dilatometric method for studying the “in vitro” digestibility of milks,
Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Vol.2, pp.316–321, 1935.
[9] K Bhagvat, The non-protein-nitrogens of milks, Current Science, Vol.5, pp.297–298, 1936.
[10] K Bhagvat and M Sreenivasaya, The non-protein-nitrogen of pulses: Partitioning of the nitrogen and a determi-
nation of the essential amino-acids, Biochemical J., Vol.30, pp.1416–18, 1936.
[11] K Bhagvat and D Richter, Animal phenolases and adrenaline, Biochem J., Vol.32, pp.1397–406, 1938.
[12] K Bhagvat, H Blaschko and D Richter, Amine oxidase, Biochem J., Vol.33, pp.1338–41, 1939.
[13] K Bhagvat and R Hill, Cytochrome oxidase in flowering plants, Nature, Vol.143, p.726, 1939.
[14] Leonard A Gordon, Brothers Against the Raj: A Biography of Indian Nationalist Leaders Sarat and Subhas Chandra
Bose, Columbia Univ. Press, NY, 1990.
[15] K Bhagvat and P S Sarma, The synthesis of vitamin C by rice-moth larva, Current Science, Vol.11, p.394, 1942.
[16] K Bhagvat and K Rao, Vitamin C in germinating grains, Indian Journal of Medical Research, 1942.
[17] K Bhagvat and K Rao, Vitamin C content of dry bengal gram, Indian Journal of Medical Research, 1942.
[18] K Bhagvat, Combined estimation of thiamin and cicotinic acid in foodstuffs by chemical methods, Current Science,
Vol.12, pp.116–117, 1943.
[19] K Bhagvat and P Devi, Inactivation of thiamin by certain foodstuffs and oil seeds. Parts I and II, Indian Journal
of Medical Research, Vol.32, pp.131–137, 139–144, 1944.
[20] K Bhagvat and P Devi, Anti-thiamin factor in carp, Indian Journal of Medical Research, Vol.32, pp.123–130, 1944.

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[21] K Bhagvat, Microbiological assay for pantothenic acid, Current Science, Vol.13, pp.75–76, 1944.
[22] K Bhagvat and U C Misra, A comparative study of acid and enzymic extractions of nicotinic acid from foodstuffs,
Current Science, Vol.15, pp.349–350, 1946.
[23] K Bhagvat and P Devi, Interference by certain substances in the estimation of thiamine by the thiochrome method,
Current Science, Vol.15, pp.312–314, 1946.
[24] K Bhagvat, Toxic effects in guinea-pigs of diets containing large proportions on Lathyrus sativus, Indian Journal
of Medical Research, Vol.34, pp.299–304, 1946.
[25] S T Deolalkar and K Sohonie, Studies on the thiaminase in Vaunshi (Mugil.Sp), Current Science, Vol.21, pp.13–
14, 1952.
[26] S T Deolalkar and K Sohonie, Thiaminase from fresh-water, brackish-water and salt-water fish, Nature, Vol.173,
pp.489–490, 1954.
[27] S T Deolalkar and K Sohonie, Studies on thiaminase from fish. II. Effect of certain compounds on thiaminase
activity, Indian Journal of Medical Research, Vol.45, pp.587–592, 1957.
[28] M K Gaitonde and K Sohonie, Trypsin inhibitor in field bean (Dolichos lablab), Current Science, Vol.20, pp.217–
218, 1951.
[29] K S Ambe and K Sohonie, Crystalline trypsin inhibitors from the Indian field bean and the double bean, Nature,
175:508, 1955.
[30] K S Ambe and K Sohonie, Crystalline inhibitors of trypsin from potato, Nature, Vol.175, p.972, 1955.
[31] N N Valanju and K Sohonie, The studies in the nutritive value of Bombay fish. Part II – Isolation, purification,
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Address for Correspondence

Anirban Mitra
15B, Jagdish Roy Lane
Kolkatta 700 006, India.
Email:
anirbondmitra@gmail.com

314 RESONANCE ¨April 2016