dex'trin

Syn.: starch gum, British gum. A compound carbohydrate, or mixture of compound carbohydrates, obtained from starch by the action of dilute acids, of diastase, and also by a dry heat of 200° G, according to some authors. It is an uncrystallizable, insipid, odorle , yellowish white, brittle substance, soluble in water and in dilute alcohol, and precipitated as a hydrate from its solutions by strong alcohol. It is not colored blue by iodin, nor does it ferment by contact with yeast, nor reduce Fehling's solution. By boiling with dilute acids it is transformed into dextrose (or ordinary glucose). There are several varieties of it into which starch is converted by the action of acids and of ferments. In pathology, it is used in culture media for differentiating the intestinal bacteria. [Lat., dexter, right, on account of its power of rotating the plane of polarization to the right.]