PENTTILÄ GARDENS COTTAGES
Presentation Speech by Professor A. Westgren, Chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, on December 10, 1945
"Your
Majesty, Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen.
In our northern latitudes we have to feed our most useful domestic
animals in winter with preserved fodder, generally hay. But for a long
time it has been common knowledge that hay alone is insufficient to keep
the animals in perfect condition. To be able even in winter to produce
good quality milk in sufficient quantity our cows need concentrated
fodder. Thus, so far they have been fed in most cases on oil cakes
imported from warmer countries. Obviously, replacing these products
imported from other countries by an indigenous feeding stuff would offer
appreciable economic advantages for our agriculture.
This is precisely the achievement of the AIV method elaborated by
Virtanen and denoted by the initials of his name. Therefore the Swedish
Academy of Sciences has decided that his research and discoveries in the
field of agricultural and nutrition chemistry, and particularly his
method of preserving animal fodder, have qualified him for the Nobel
Prize for Chemistry, 1945.
For a long time Virtanen had been seeking to make what contribution he
could to improving the supply of feeding stuffs in his country. With the
indomitable tenacity which marks the sons of Finland he never lost sight
of that objective and stubbornly persisted in carrying out his research
programme.
Leguminous plants such as clover, vetch and lucern are green fodder
which. when harvested in due season, provide cattle with the vitamins
and proteins necessary for them to achieve full production capacity. In
seeking to achieve by rational and economic cultivation a green fodder
with the maximum protein content Virtanen was led to study the
conditions of nitrogen assimilation and of protein formation in
vegetable organisms. Displaying great ingenuity, he attempted to solve
the difficult problem of the process whereby the leguminous plants fix
atmospheric nitrogen by means of bacteria contained in their tubers. The
original aim of these studies has still not been achieved but their
results are already valuable and hold promise of being very important.
In his attempts to improve the availability of feeding stuffs in
Finland, Virtanen also founded on purely theoretical data his method of
preserving green fodder, a method which avoids protein loss and
minimizes vitamin loss.
It had long been known that the addition of organic or mineral acids to
ensilage inhibited the breathing of the vegetable cells as well as all
the fermentation processes. There have been frequent endeavours to turn
this phenomenon to practical account. However, these attempts were
carried out empirically and without serious study of the conditions for
conserving the nutrient value of the fodder, or for using it as an
animal feeding stuff. By his systematic, thorough studies Virtanen was
the first to solve this problem.
To preserve fodder Virtanen uses hydrochloric acid with the addition of
sulphuric acid. After painstaking, protracted studies he determined the
limiting degrees within which the acidity must be kept in order to
achieve the required result. The following beneficial results are
simultaneously obtained. The breathing of the plant cells, which consume
readily soluble carbohydrates is reduced to a minimum, particularly if
the fodder is well stacked. The lactic-acid fermentation ceases or
remains at an insignificant level. The butyric-acid fermentation, which
decreases the attractiveness of the fodder and lowers the quality of the
milk, ceases. Protein decomposition, which is apt to cause heavy
financial losses, ceases almost altogether. The content of vitamin A and
carotin is maintained and vitamin B and vitamin C are also well
preserved. Vitamin-rich milk and butter are very important for public
health and AIV fodder provides an effective means of improving this
supply of vitamins. Because of these fodders "summer milk can be
produced the whole year round". AIV fodder has no deleterious effect on
the animals which readily consume it. Some weeks after the silo has been
charged the mineral acids are neutralized and fixed in the form of salts
by the basic products contained in the fodder, while harmless organic
acids are liberated. AIV fodder has frequently assisted in improving the
condition of animals, their fertility and resistance to disease.
One merit of the AIV method is that it also enables second crops of
grass gathered in the autumn to be ensilated, regardless of the
atmospheric conditions, and thus permits economic use of this fodder
which, more often than not, cannot be used as hay.
Virtanen is not an office-bound scientist. Himself a farmer, he has
tried out the most appropriate ways of applying his ensilation system.
This system has become established in Finland. A flight nowadays over
the farming areas of southern Finland shows one or more pits near almost
every farm. The observer may perhaps think that they are the traces left
by the bombardments of the last war. Nothing of the sort. They are silos
filled with AIV fodder. In Sweden too the AIV method is becoming
increasingly appreciated. Between 1932, the year when it was applied for
the first time, and today, the quantities of green fodder prepared by
the AIV method have doubled or tripled every four years. Last year they
rose to 295,000 tons. The use of the method has increased appreciably
during recent years in Denmark and Great Britain. It is also applied in
Norway and Holland. In America as well it has stimulated growing
interest and is each year being increasingly practised. In America and
Germany large quantities of silage are prepared by methods which may be
considered as variants of the AIV method. Virtanen's studies provide a
firm basis for future research in the matter of silage.
Professor Virtanen. I do not think I am wrong to say that it is in your
ardent patriotism that we must look for the most powerful force
inspiring your great scientific achievement. During your years of effort
Finland remained for you as for the noble commandant in Runeberg's poem:
"the sullen, needy, humble, and holy Fatherland". By your work you have
confirmed that the person who places his sincerity and a tireless zeal
at the service of his kin and of his country, without thought of himself
and without seeking for personal profit, also serves the interests of
humanity. Perhaps your eyes are fixed more attentively than ever on the
difficult biochemical problems which you have set yourself to solve and
to which you have made so many important contributions. For that reason
we are certain that your studies will again bear fresh fruit. It is a
joy for our Academy to be able to give you new means of attaining the
aims which you have set yourself. We warmly wish you prosperity and I
would ask you to receive from the hands of His Majesty the King, the
Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the year 1945."
From Nobel Lectures, Chemistry 1942-1962, Elsevier Publishing Company,
Amsterdam, 1964
Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1945