t 333 1 



CHAPTER LIV. 



PLANTAINS (MUSA PARADISSICA). 



TDANANA jelly. Plantains being largely grown in 

 Bengal, a simple method of preserving this fruit success- 

 fully carried out at Sibpur, may be described with advantage. 

 Peel the ripe fruits, cut them into slices, add i Ib. of water 

 to each pound of slices and boil for about one hour, until the 

 mixture is soft enough to be strained through calico. After 

 straining add one pound of sugar and sufficient citric or 

 tartaric acid, or simply lime juice, to give the mixture an 

 agreeable acid taste. If citric or tartaric acid is used it 

 should be dissolved in water before it is added to the fruit 

 pulp. The boiling should then be repeated for at least 

 another hour, and then bottle up the jelly when fairly hot, 

 the bottles used being fumigated inside with a taper of 

 burning sulphur introduced immediately before the warm 

 jelly is put in. A piece of parchment paper is put on the 

 top of jelly before the cork or stopper is put on after the 

 jelly has become quite cool. 



496. Banana-meal. The banana plantation is looked 

 upon in some parts of Africa as an important source of 

 food-supply. Banana-meal is a highly nutritious and light 

 food, and according to Humboldt is 48 times more nutritious 

 than potatoes, and according to Crighton Campbell of America 

 it is 28 times as nutritious as the best wheaten bread. The 

 Negroes prepare banana-meal in a primitive fashion. They 

 dry the fruits and pound them in a mortar. Placed in jars 

 or sacks, away from damp, it remains good for a long time. 

 But a quick-drying apparatus should be used if the meal 

 industry is to be introduced into a damp country like Bengal. 

 The fruits are stripped of skin and cut in rounds and placed 

 on a perfectly cleaned and heat-disinfected trays in the 



