108 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF NUTS USED AS 



FOOD. 



BY J. B. WEEMS AND ALICE W. HESS. 



[Contrihutio7i from the Department of Agricultural Chemistry , No. 4, Iowa State College."] 



Nuts are used extensively as a luxury and their food 

 value has been given little attention. According to the 

 report of the department of agriculture, nuts are imported 

 to the value of $1,518,484 in 1901, and this amount does not 

 include the nuts which are admitted duty free. The use 

 of nuts under the unfavorable conditions for digestion has 

 given to them a reputation of being indigestible. If used 

 under favorable conditions as part of the meal and not as 

 an addition to a product which is indigestible itself, there 

 is no reason why many of the nuts should not be regarded 

 more favorably as food. The cost of nuts in this state 

 places them among the luxuries, since they cannot be 

 regarded as an economical food material, except possibly 

 the peanut. Compared with the more expensive forms of 

 breakfast foods many of the nuts are not expensive forms 

 of food. 



The analyses of the nuts which have been made in con- 

 nection with this study include the native nuts and those 

 found on the market. There are other nuts besides those 

 that have been selected which it is hoped will be added to 

 the results given in this paper at some future time. As a 

 matter of interest the chufa nut has been included in the 

 analyses. While the chufa nut is not found in the market 

 yet, it is advertised by seedmen as a nut which readily 

 grows in Iowa. The results of the analysis made by the 

 Maine Experiment Station ^^^ are of interest in connection 

 with this study. 



(1) Report Maine Experiment Station. 1899, p. 87. 



