Chem. [f. mod.L. jalāpa (see prec.) + -IN.] A glucoside resin, one of the purgative principles of officinal jalap and allied plants; the resin of jalap-stalks. So Jalapic a. in jalapic acid, C68 H59 O35, an acid produced by dissolving jalapin in aqueous solutions of the alkalis or alkaline earths. Its salts are Jalapates.
1832. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7), VI. 467/1. Jalappin … was first obtained by Mr. Hume in 1824.
1865–72. Watts, Dict. Chem., III. 439. Jalapin is a colourless amorphous resin, translucent when in thin plates. Ibid., 437. Jalapate of lead … Hydrate of lead dissolves in boiling aqueous jalapic acid, forming an amorphous, easily soluble salt.
