THE PLANT WORIvD 201 



practically all the year, the banana, yam, and taro are the plants chiefly 

 relied upon by the natives. That the breadfruit will not succeed as a 

 food staple when obliged to compete with well-established cereals and 

 root crops is generally acknowledged, but nevertheless, its utility as a 

 farinaceous food of considerable nutritive value is generally under- 

 estimated. 



From an analysis given in the Experiment Station Record of the 

 Department of Agriculture (Vol. 12, p. 1076), it would seem that bread- 

 fruit contains more starch (25 per cent) and less water (25-30 per cent) 

 than either the yam or sweet potato, but the presence of over 4 per cent 

 of fibrous matter is a great handicap upon its attaining wide use as a 

 vegetable, a disadvantage not shared by either of the plants mentioned. 

 The amount of nitrogenous matter varies a great deal in the different 

 analyses, but the presence of protein enough to justify the following 

 statement is assured : 



The result of the determination of nitrogen in a portion of the pulp 

 of the wasted fruit shows that this esculent must be classed with taro, 

 yams, potatoes, and rice as essentially farinaceous in character," * 



The chief obstacle to the commercial exploitation of the fruit is its 

 lack of transportable qualities while in a fresh condition, owing to the 

 fact that it ripens quickly and soon loses quality after complete maturity 

 has been reached. The following quotation gives an idea of the Hawaiian 

 fruit at maturity : 



" When just ripe the fruit contains but little sugar. If baked in this 

 stage, the bulk has a delicately fibrous texture, with a suggestion of 

 'lightness' that recalls that of a loaf of wheaten bread. The flavor is 

 agreeable and characteristic, reminding one, however, a little of wasted 

 chestnuts." t 



Before ripeness is attained the fruit is dry and rather tasteless, but 

 with complete maturity comes a sudden change of the starch content into 

 sugar, accompanied by a rich peach-like aroma, but with no correspond- 

 ing change in flavor ; even this odor is lost in the process of cooking. 

 According to Mr. Lyon the fruit in this over ripe condition is soft and 

 gummy, but is preferred by many on account of its pronounced sweetness. 



Captain Cook, while on his first voyage round the world, made the 

 acquaintance of this vegetable -tree and has left the following rather ex- 

 travagant record in his monumental folios of travel : 



' ' Of the many vegetables that have been mentioned already as serv- 

 ing them for food, the principal is the bread-fruit, to procure which costs 

 them no trouble or labour but climbing a tree. The tree which produces 

 it does not indeed shoot up spontaneously, but if a man plants ten of 

 them in his life time, which he may do in about an hour, he will as com- 



* Hawaiian Planters' Monthly, 13: ii6. July, 1894. ^ Ibid. , p. y.^. 



