VITAMINS — ^MUNSELL 



259 



cerning each individual food item. In lieu of this it might seem 

 advisable to indicate a range in place of a single value. The diffi- 

 culty in that case is that anyone requiring a single value will use 

 the median of the range which may not be in any sense the best 

 value to use. This reduces the problem to one of arbitrarily select- 

 ing what are considered the most representative values. 



The values in the table presented here, which is offered as an 

 aid to those who must use single values expressive of vitamin con- 

 tent, were selected on this basis. The selections were made from a 

 summary of all of the data that could be obtained in the literature 

 or elsewhere up to July 1, 1940. Careful consideration was given to 

 the methods of analysis used and the nature of the food material 

 studied. The values given should be taken as applying to foods that 

 are reasonably fresh and of good quality. This is especially im- 

 portant to keep in mind relative to vitamin-C values. "Market fresh" 

 vegetables are often far from "fresh" as far as vitamin-C content is 

 concerned. Adjustments should be made in the vitamin-C values 

 for fruits and vegetables, especially leafy vegetables, when the 

 products to which they are being applied are not strictly fresh. 



Some values in the table may differ materially from correspond- 

 ing ones in other summaries. Too much concern should not be felt 

 over such discrepancies, perhaps, since all values of this kind are, 

 as explained, arbitrarily selected and their approximation to actual 

 fact is problematical in any case. If specific information about a 

 food is available, other values might be selected as more suitable. 



Table 1. — Values selected as representative of the vitamin-A, vitamin-Bi, vitamin-C, 

 vitamin-D, and riboflavin content of common foods 



[Unless otherwise stated, the values given are for the edible portion of the fresh food] t 



Food material 



Vitamin A 



Vitamin 

 B, 



Vitamin C 



Vitamin 

 D 



Riboflavin 

 vitamin Q 



Units per 100 grams ' 



Alfalfa leaf meal, dried. 

 Almond 



Apple 



Apricot, fresh 



Apricot, dried 



Artichoke, Globe 



Artichoke, Jerusalem. 



Asparagus, green 



Asparagus, bleached. 



Avocado 



Banana 



Barley 



Beans, snap: 



Green 



Wax 



See footnotes at end of table. 

 430577—42 18 



Int. 



8,000 

 75 



75 



4,000 



5,000 



200 



700 



0-50 



100 



300 







1,000 

 



Int.i 



75 



15 



10 

 30 

 60 

 50 

 70 

 50 

 30 

 15 

 120 



25 

 25 



Int.» 



(30-400) 



av. 100 



100 



60 



175 



115 



700 



650 



400 



200 







300 

 300 



Int. 



Sherman * 

 500 

 200 



10 



17 



35 



Fair 



40 



Fair 



30 



30 



3 



40 

 40 



