CHAPTER X 

 STARCHY FOODS 



THE starchy foods in common use by the inhabitants of 

 tropical countries include not only the majority of the familiar 

 starchy foods of northern climates but also a number of others 

 which are grown exclusively or chiefly in the Tropics. In 

 most tropical countries corn, wheat, barley, oats, millets, buck- 

 wheat, and sorghum are of considerable importance. For 

 example, there are 6,000,000 acres in India devoted to the 

 production of corn, and India stands third or fourth in the 

 wheat-producing countries of the world. Sorghum is widely 

 used in some parts of the Tropics as a human food. In India, 

 for example, sorghum seed is extensively employed in making 

 bread. In addition to many of the leguminous food plants 

 familiar to the inhabitants of cold climates the farmers of the 

 Tropics also give a great amount of attention to pigeon pea, 

 chick pea, kulthi, lablab bean, soy bean, kidney bean, cowpea, 

 lentil, etc. Among the root crops of importance to the in- 

 habitants of the Tropics mention may be made of potatoes, 

 sweet potatoes, eggplant, carrot, radish, turnip, beet, etc., as 

 well as a considerable variety of roots not grown in cold 

 climates. 



Notwithstanding the fact that nearly all the familiar starchy 

 food plants are grown in tropical countries, the relative im- 

 portance of these plants is very different in the Tropics from 

 what it is in cold climates. A brief discussion of the more im- 

 portant starchy foods in general use in tropical countries is 

 given in the following paragraphs. 



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