764 ^ EXPEEIMEKT STATION RECORD. 



Baking tests reported with sprouted wlieat represent work by A. J. Galbraith 

 and submitted in a thesis. Ontario soft winter wheat and Manitoba spring 

 wheat of medium grade were selected. Samples, allowed to germinate until 

 the sprouts were equal to the length of the kernel, to about twice the length 

 tof the kernel, and to about I5 inches long, were compared with ungerminated. 

 wheats. As was expected, the flours from these wheats " showed considerable 

 difference in appearance. That from the least sprouted wheat had the best 

 color, while that fi'om the more extended germination was very dark. On 

 washing out the gluten it was found that the flour from the wheat with the 

 shortest sprouts handled quite normally. The gluten from the second sample 

 was rather soft and runny, and the third was so poor that it was impossible to 

 make a satisfactory determination of the amount of it present." 



The bread-making tests showed that the flour from wheat which was least 

 germinated yielded bread superior in color, texture, and general appearance of 

 the loaf to that obtained from the normal unsprouted wheat. The more ex- 

 tended germination allowed in the other wheats injured the quality of the 

 gluten and apparently more in the case of the winter than of the spring wheat. 



A study of the nitrogen of the sprouted and unsprouted wheats showed that 

 " the quantity of alcohol-soluble nitrogen is apparently not influenced by the 

 germination, but the salt-soluble compounds are slightly, and the amids very 

 materially affected." While it was not possible to study definitely the effects 

 of the nitrogen compounds on the bread-making quality of the flour, " the re- 

 sults do show that while the alcohol-soluble and gliadin nitrogen remains un- 

 changed, tlie amount of glutenin nitrogen decreases and the amid nitrogen in- 

 creases. Apparently the destruction of the gluten is accompanied by these 

 changes." 



A study of the carbohydrates showed that, as might be expected, " the per- 

 centage of starch jjresent in the gi'ain decreases and the soluble carbohydrates 

 increase. These soluble carbohydrates and the soluble protein are essential 

 food constituents of the yeast, and possibly the better quality of bread obtained 

 from the slightly sprouted wheat was due to the extra food materials present. 

 On the other hand, too large an amount of the soluble carbohydrates in the 

 flour or dough is always associated with a poor color and texture of bread, and 

 even if the gluten was not destroyed by the longer germination, it is probab'e 

 that the bread made from these samples would not have been so good as that 

 obtained from the normal wheat. Apparently the bread-making value of the 

 wheat is improved by germination provided this is not continued too far. When 

 this has taken place, the dough ' works ' very fast, doubtless due to the large 

 amount of available food present, but the dough will not ' rise' properly because 

 the gluten, or, at least, the tenacious nature of the gluten, has been destroyed." 



How bread becomes stale, J. R. Katz (Pharm. Weckbl., 49 (1912), No. 27 

 j)p. 618-631). — From various experiments it appears that bread in becoming 

 stale loses but little water, the crumb losing from 1 to 2 per cent but the crust 

 gaining from 8 to 9 per cent. There is a decrease in the amount of water-soluble 

 dextrins in the crumb, the crust remaining almost unchanged. 



Reheating appears to restore to stale bread many of the properties of fresh 

 bread. Apparently the degree of staleness is determined by the presence of, 

 some compound which is unstable at high temperatures. 



The bacterial contamination of bread, Katharine Howell {Amer. Jour. 

 Pul). Health, 2 (1912), No. 5, pp. H21-32.',; abs. in Med. Rev. of Reviews, 18 

 [1912), No. 9, pp. 5S9, 590). — One hundred loaves of bread, wrapped and un- 

 wrapped, were collecteil from shops in Chicago. Dirty loaves gave an aver- 

 age bacterial count of 64,970 per loaf, loaves from fairly clean shops 3,117, 



