THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 13, 1917. 



STANDARD BREAD. 



The high price of bread in the West Indies at the 

 present time, and the possibility of a shortage of fiour 

 in the future, make the tbllowing article appearing in 

 Nature for November 23, both interesting and impoi'- 

 tant to West Indian readers, as well as to the people of 

 Great Britain: — 



The decision of the Government, which appears likely to 

 result in the general consumption of 'standard bread', will no 

 doubt be received with varied feelings by various sections of 

 the community. In view of the certaintj' that such differ- 

 ences of opinion are likely to arise, the following brief sketch 

 of the facts of the case so far as they are known may be of 

 general interest. 



Under normal conditions at the present time, the average 

 practice of roller milling results in the recovery from cleaned 

 wheat of lather more than 70 per_cent. of its weight of tlour, 

 the remaining 28 or 29 per cent, of the wheat, consisting of 

 various grades of 'offals', being sold for feeding stock. 



The changes announced last week would make it com- 

 pulsory to recover 80 per cent, of Hour from wheat, which 

 would increase the amount of flour by about 8i per cent., and 

 decrease the amount of offals for stock-feeding by a like 

 proportion, the percentage in both cases being calculated on 

 the amount of cleaned wheat available for milling. 



On the basis of the amount of flour produced in the 

 United Kingdom for home consumption in the years immedi- 

 ately before the war, the change announced would increase 

 the amount of flour available for bread-making by very nearly 

 600,000 tons, which would provide an extra 2-lb. loaf for 

 every inhabitant of the Ignited Kingdom every three weeks, 

 or seventeen extra 2-Ib. loaves per head of the population per 

 year. This is by no means a negligible increase in the bread 

 supply, and it is doubtless considerations of this kind that 

 have induced the Government to take action. 



If, however, we examine the result rather more closely, 

 we find that the increase in the nation's food supply may not 

 be so great as the above figures indicate. In spite of repeated 

 statements to the contrary, bread made from 80 per cent, 

 flour is not so nutritious, weight for weight, as bread made 

 from 70 per cent, flour — at any rate, for the supply of protein 

 and energy for the general population. Although 80 per 

 cent, bread contains, on the average, rather more protein than 

 70 per cent, bread, the digestibility of the protein in the 

 former is rather lower, so that the actual weight of protein 

 digested by the average individual from 1 R). of 80 per cent, 

 bread is rather less than the amount digested from lib of 70 

 percent, bread. Again, the energy value of 80 per cent, bread 

 is rather lower than that of 70 per cent, bread. Still one 

 more correction must be made in order to arrive at the actual 

 increase in the national food supply which will result from 

 the general adoption of a milling standard of 80 per cent. 

 It is pointed out above that the recovery of 80 per cent, 

 of flour from cleaned wheat entails a decrease in the supply of 

 the finer wheat offals for stock-feeding to the extent of about 

 600,000 tons. These finer offals are largely used for feeding 

 pigs. Their transference to human consumption would therefore 

 decrease the production of pork and bacon, and this must 

 be allowed for in estimating the total effect of the proposed 

 alterations in milling. After applying all these corrections, 

 it appears that the general adoption of an 80 per cent, 

 standard would undoubtedly give a substantial increase in 

 the amount of digestible food for the supply of protein and 

 energy for the population of the United Kingdom. 



The possibility that the food value of bread would be 

 sub.«tantially increased by the adoption of the 80 jier cent. 

 standard because the content pf the mysterious constituents 



known as vitamines would be increased by the inclusion of 

 a greater proportion of the germ and of the outer layers of 

 the grain, is perhaps scarcely worth discussing in this con- 

 nexion. Such constituents are supplied by other items com- 

 prised in an ordinary mixed diet, so that the vitamine content 

 of bread can have little practical significance except in the 

 very few cases where bread forms the whole, or very nearly 

 the whole, of the diet. 



The price of wheat offals for feeding stock is now so high 

 that the adoption of the 80 per cent, standard cannot be 

 expected to make any considerable reduction in the price of 

 bread. Even the compulsory admixture of a considerable 

 proportion of other cereals such as maize, oats, or barley, 

 with wheat for bread-making would not greatly cheapen 

 the loaf, because these cereals are not very much cheaper 

 than wheat. The important point in raising the mill- 

 ing standard and in including other cereals among the bread- 

 stuffs is that it would widen the sources from which the 

 national food supply is derived — • a most desirable end under 

 existing conditions. To summarize, the result of a compulsory 

 80 per cent, standard would be neither better bread nor 

 cheaper bread, but more bread. 



BREAD DILUTED WITH SWEET POTATO 

 MEAL AND CORN MEAL. 



Dr. H. A. Tempany, Superintendent of Agriculture for 

 the Leeward Islands, has forwarded to this Office a report on 

 experiments connected with the baking of bread from flour 

 diluted with sweet potato meal and with corn meal, carried 

 out with the kind cooperation of Mr. H. S. Mendes, on 

 the recommendation of the C'entral Board for Co-operative 

 Organizations. 



For the purpose of these experiments, a quantity of sweet 

 potato meal was prepared in the Government laboratory, 

 .\ntigua. In making the meal the potatoes were not peeled, 

 as from a commercial stand-point this operation adds very 

 appreciably to the cost of production. Sample loaves of 

 bread were baked, using wheat flour as a basis, diluted with 

 sweet potato meal prepared as above stated, and with corn 

 meal, in the following proportions: — 



Series A: Wheat flour 3 parts, 



Sweet potato meal, or corn meal, 1 part. 

 Series B: Wheat flour 2 parts, 



Sweet potato meal, or corn meal, 1 part. 



In both series of experiments very satisfactory bread 

 is .said to have been produced. The bread diluted with 

 sweet potato meal was brown in colour, and resembled both 

 in appearence and flavour whole meal wheaten bread; that 

 diluted with corn meal was of a very pale-j'ellow colour, and 

 of a distinctly palatable flavour. 



It will be observed that attention is directed to the 

 fact, that in the preparation of the potato meal in these 

 experiments, the potatoes were not peeled. The peeling of 

 the potatoes in the preparation of potato meal may rightly be 

 regarded as an unnecessary addition to the cost of production, 

 for the simple reason that the skin of the potato is very thin, 

 and the amount of such material introduced into the meal 

 would be so inconsiderable as to have no harmful effect on 

 the bread produced, either from the point of colour or flavour. 

 It seems that all that is required in the preparation so far, is 

 to have the potatoes washed thoroughly clean. 



The success of these experiments appears to have been 

 complete. Another point, however, occurs to us in connexion 

 with these experiments: it is whether bread produced by an 

 admixture of meals as shown above, could not be rendered 

 more nutritive with the addition of bean flour, which ia 



