THE DIGESTIBILITY AXD XUTRITIVE VALUE OF MACARONI 



INTRODUCTION. 



Macaroni and similar foods, grouped together under the name of 

 Italian pastes, are conimonl}- said to be of Italian origin, but as pointed 

 out in a recent journal" there is reason for believing that the}' were 

 introduced into Sicily and Calabria ])y the earh' Greek settlers, and 

 that the invention of these food products is to be ascribed to the 

 Greeks. There are undoubtedly grounds for this statement, yet it 

 should be remembered that similar food products have been known 

 since early times in China and Japan, where they are still manufac- 

 tured in large quantities. 



Italian pastes are usually made from durum, or macaroni, wheat; that 

 is, varieties which are of a glutinous character. The wheat is ground 

 less finely than for ordinary fiour-making purposes, the product being a 

 coarse granular middlings known as semolina. In making macaroni 

 this semolina is made into a stifi" dough, kneaded and then pressed into 

 tubes and dried. Though prepared for the table in a number of ways, 

 the first treatment usually consists in parboiling the dried macaroni 

 twenty to thirty minutes. 



In connection with investigations carried on by the Bureau of Plant 

 Industr}' of this Department regarding durum wheat, information 

 is given regarding the process of manufacture of macaroni and 

 related topics in a recent bulletin,* and also in earlier publications 

 the character of such wheat, the relative value of different varieties, 

 and other questions are considered. At the South Dakota Experi- 

 ment Station'* the value of durum wheat flour for making bread, cake, 

 and similar foods has been studied, and tests on the milling of this 

 wheat and the maiuifacture of macaroni have also been made. 



The composition of macaroni and similar Italian pastes has often 

 been determined by analysis, some of the work of this character hav- 

 ing been carried on by experiment station investigators or those con- 

 nected with the nutrition investigations of this Department. Rubner,'' 

 Jacoangeli and Bonanni,' Cappelletti,' and perhaps other investigators 



"Home Sd. Maj;., 20 (1908-4), p. 271. 



'>U. K. Dept. Agr., Bureau of Plant Industry Bui. 70. 



t' South Dakota Station Buls. 77 and 82. 



</Zt.sc-hr. Biol., 15 (1879), p. 115. 



^Bol. Not. Agr., 19 (1897), II, p. 434. 



/Ztschr. Untensuch. Xahr. u. Genns.«nitl., 1 (1898), p. 384. 



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