The Bulletin. 



41 



PECANS AS FOOD. 



Many years ago, before the study of human foods took its true 

 place as a thing to be considered in the economy of nations, the value 

 of foods was partly a matter of conjecture. Now scientists can tell 

 a man with a perfect digestion almost to a grain what nourishment 

 he will get from any given food. Among the surprises that food 

 chemists have given the world none are of more interest than those 

 that relate to the value of nuts as a food. Every one has heard of 

 lost persons existing for many weeks on the nuts of the forest, but 

 the average mind until a few years ago associated them only with 

 the joys of circus day or the delights of a winter night before the 

 fire. Now we know that they are more than condiments or accessories 

 to the menu and must be regarded as very real foods. Indeed, bulk 

 for bulk, nuts are among the most nutritive foods that we possess. 

 All nuts yield high food value, and when properly eaten or prepared 

 may to a large extent form a substitute for meat, because they con- 

 tain much proteid and fat in small bulk. 



Among the nuts that yield the greatest amount of nourishment 

 pecans stand almost first. 



EDIBLE PORTION OF NUTS PER CENT. 



Pecan — 



Chestnut 

 Cocoanut 

 Peanut- - 

 Almond - 



Protein. 



12.1 



6.4 



6.6 



29.8 



21.4 



Carbohydrate. 



Sugar 

 Starch. 



8.5 

 41.3 

 13.7 

 14.7 

 13.8 



Cellulose. 



3.7 

 1.5 



8.9 

 2.4 

 3.0 



Fat. 



70.7 

 6.0 

 56.2 

 43.5 

 54.4 



Mineral 

 Matter. 



1.6 

 1.4 

 1.6 

 2.2 

 2.5 



Water. 



3.4 

 43.4 

 13.0 



7.4 

 4.9 



Fuel 

 Value 



pel- 

 Pound. 



3.300 

 1.140 

 2.805 

 2.610 

 2.895 



Their great food value lies largely in the abundance of fatty matter. 

 In fact, there is no other vegetable substance in all the world's food 

 supply that is so rich in fats as the pecan. There is an old English 

 saying that "No man need starve on a journey who can fill his waist- 

 coat pocket with almonds." If that can be said of almonds it can 

 surely be said of pecans, whose fuel value, compared with almonds, is 

 as 33 to 29, or 13.8 per cent more. 



While the nutritive value of nuts is high, it cannot be said that they 

 are as easily digested as many of our other common foods. One 

 reason for this is their high percentage of fat. It has been estimated 

 that one ordinarily large pecan contains as much fat as would be ab- 

 sorbed by two dozen well-cooked doughnuts. Another reason is be- 



