BANANAS AS FOOD 119 



by being separated, has led to its being transported long 

 distances from the place of cultivation. . . . They are 

 largely used for food wherever they grow, and in some 

 regions they constitute one of the principal foodstuffs of 

 the native population. They are very prolific, and an 

 acre of land set with bananas will produce more food than 

 the same area set with potatoes or wheat. . . . Bananas 

 are among the most nutritious fruits, but consist chiefly of 

 carbohydrates, and especially sugars. The starch consists 

 of long, narrow granules with indistinct striae and hilum. 

 The proportion varies according to their condition. 

 Ricciardi * found that green bananas contain 12 per cent, 

 of starch, which mostly disappears during ripening, along 

 with the tannic and organic acids. Doherty f found 6 per 

 cent, of starch in ripe fruit ; but other observers find less 

 than this, most of it being converted into sugars and other 

 soluble carbohydrates. The woody fibre does not exceed 



2 per cent. The sugars in ripe fruit average about 20 per 

 cent, of the edible portion, but Doherty found as low as 



3 per cent, sugar and 11 per cent, of other carbohydrates. 

 The proteins are small ; in ripe fruit they average 1 per 

 cent, of the edible portion, and consist of albumin and 

 gluten. The acidity equals 0-3 per cent., reckoned as 

 sulphuric acid. The ash varies from 0*5 to 1 per cent. 

 (see the second table on p. 120), J being 0-70 per cent, in 

 Nino, 1*08 in Orinoco, and 0-83 in Colorado bananas. 



" In some countries the banana and plantain form a far 

 more important article of food than in Europe. To an 

 immense portion of the human race it occupies the place 

 of wheat, rye, barley, and potatoes, used by inhabitants 

 of temperate regions . A reference, however, to the analysis 

 given below shows that the banana is deficient in proteins 

 and fat. It contains less of these elements than the cereals 

 do. The proportion of protein and fat places it on a par 

 with the potato, but with the advantage that it is unneces- 



* Biedermann'a Centralb. f. Agrik. Chem., xiv. 18, 



f Chemical News, 1892, Ixxiv. 187. 



j Bureau of Chemistry, Bulletin 87, U.S. Dept. of Agrie. 



