• DIGESTIBILITY OF HARD PALATES OF CATTLE 



By C. F. Langworthy, Chief, and A. D. Holmes, Scientific Assistant, Office of Home 

 Economics, States Relations Service 



The so-called "hard palates," which are taken from the roof of the 

 mouth of beef animals, have not in the past been utilized to any extent 

 as food. They contain very little muscular tissue, such as is character- 

 istic of meats in general, and possess a ribbed outer surface that is black 

 or white in color, very rough, and of an unattractive appearance. 



The microscopic examination of the structural constituents of hard 

 palates of cattle reveals a stratified layer of epithelium which is in a state 

 of cornification. The extent of this layer is possibly one-sixteenth of the 

 entire thickness. The connective tissue portion of the mucous membrane 

 consists of a dense feltwork of white fibrous tissue arranged in dense 

 interlacing bundles ; the individual fibers of the bundles, comprising about 

 60 per cent, are matted together as closely as in tendon tissue or sinews 

 and are interwoven with about 20 per cent of elastic (erectile) fibers, 10 

 per cent of involuntary muscle, and about 10 per cent of looser fibrous 

 tissue attaching the mucous membrane to the periosteum. This looser 

 tissue contains a small amount of fat and very few glands. 



A chemical examination of hard palates showed that when freshly pro- 

 cured they have the following composition: Water, 71.0 per cent; protein 

 (NX 6.25), 22.2 per cent (or protein by difference, 16.6 per cent); fat, n. 8 

 per cent; and ash, 0.6 per cent. The high protein content suggested that 

 this material might be of value for food. Since little, if any, experimental 

 evidence is available regarding the thoroughness of digestion of such tissue 

 when eaten in quantity, a number of experiments were undertaken at the 

 suggestion of the Bureau of Animal Industry to determine the digesti- 

 bility of hard palates by human subjects. This means for practical pur- 

 poses the digestibility of the nitrogenous material present, since the pro- 

 portion of fat supplied by the cooked hard palates is small. 



COOKING HARD PALATES 



The material for study was obtained from a local abattoir and sup- 

 plied to the Office of Home Economics by the Bureau of Animal Indus- 

 try. Before the digestion experiments could be undertaken, it was 

 necessary to find some way of cooking and serving the hard palates 

 which would make it possible to eat them in quantity. At first the 

 attempt was made to put the raw material through an ordinary house- 

 hold meat cutter with the idea that it might then be fried in small cakes, 

 like Hamburg steak, but the material was so firm and tough that it 



Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. VI, No. 17 



Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C July 24. 1916 



ek B— 9 



(641) 



