21 



NOTES OX ANALYSES OF BUCKWHEAT. 



The samples containing the largest and smallest grains were both 

 from Canada, 100 kernels weighing 3.400 and 2.203 grams, respectively. 

 In regard to size the samples from Indiana were the most uniform, each 

 of the individual samples being very near the mean in weight. The 

 percentage of moisture is remarkably uniform in all the samples, the 

 maximum being 13.14 j)er cent in a Canada sample and the-minimum 

 11. 75 per cent in a sample from Michigan. In respect of albuminoids the 

 highest percentage, 11.90, was found in an Indiana, and the lowest, 9.19, 

 in a Minnesota sample. In oil content the highest was a Canada 

 sample with 2.62 per cent, and the lowest, also from Canada, with 1.31 

 per cent. The extremes in regard to the other constituents will be 

 found by inspecting the table given below. In regard to the indigesti- 

 ble fiber, it should not be forgotten that the hull of the kernel was 

 ground with the flour, and this fact explains why the indigestible fiber 

 of the buckwheat flour is so much higher than that of ordinary cereals. 



In the table which follows are found the maxima, minima, and means 

 for domestic samples and those from Canada from the World's Fair 

 exhibits compared with the mean data as given in Jenkins and Win- 

 ton's compilation of American feeding stuffs and in Konig and 

 Dietrich's tables of the constitution of foods: 



Table of maxima, minima, and means. 



a Indiana. 



6 Minnesota. 



c Michigan. 



Comparing the analyses made with those given by Konig and Die- 

 trich we find again that in the foreign samples the percentage of water 

 is very much higher than in those of domestic origin. The indigest- 

 ible fiber is also markedly higher and, as a consequence of the high 

 percentages of moisture and indigestible fiber, the digestible carbo- 

 hydrates are remarkably low. Buckwheat is a cereal which has received 

 little attention from analysts, and the data at hand for comparison are 

 therefore limited. 



A typical American buckwheat should have approximately the follow- 

 ing composition : Weight of a hundred kernels, 3 grams ; moisture, 12 



