BANANAS AS FOOD 115 



are first put into scalding water (176 F.) for four or five 

 minutes, the peel is easily removed. The peeled fruit is 

 dried in the sun or put into a dryer of some kind to reduce 

 the percentage of the water which it contains from 

 70 to 15. The drying is more readily effected if the fruit 

 is cut up small. Steel knives should not be used as they 

 turn the banana black ; nickel blades are better, and very 

 effective knives can be made from bamboo. The peasantry 

 in Jamaica, after taking off the skin, cut the bananas into 

 thin slices and lay them on stones in the sun. One day's 

 hot sun is sufficient to dry them, after which they are put 

 into a mortar, pounded, and then sifted. Two bunches 

 make ten quarts of flour. 



In the factory at one time in operation at Montpelier, 

 Jamaica, belonging to the Hon. Evelyn Ellis, the bananas 

 were dried in a vacuum, the interior of the vacuum apparatus 

 being heated. The bananas enclosed in this dryer were 

 stirred continuously by means of paddles which alternate 

 and move between fixed knives. The paddles were moved 

 by a system of belts and pulleys. The drying was com- 

 plete in two hours ; by this time the bananas had been 

 reduced to the appearance of somewhat coarse flour with 

 only 15 per cent, of water. The mass was removed from 

 the dryer, and passed through sieves containing 120 meshes 

 to the square inch. Whatever remained on the sieve was 

 passed through a simple mill and sifted afresh. The flour 

 was packed in boxes or barrels lined with paper. The 

 odour was that characteristic of the fresh banana, the 

 flavour agreeable, and the taste somewhat sweet. It has 

 been found, however, that the result is more satisfactory 

 if the bananas are simply dried and exported as " banana 

 chips," as the making into flour, sifting, &c., can be better 

 done in England. 



Dr. Robert Hutchison * says : * The unripe banana is 

 dried and used to produce banana meal or flour. A sample 

 of such a flour had the following percentage omposition : 



* " Food and the Principles of Dietetics." By R. Hutchison, M.I>. 

 Edin. Third edition, 1911. 



