130 THE BANANA 



the whole growth of this fruit the saccharine matter is 

 constituted entirely of cane-sugar, but the proportion 

 varies considerably. From results of analyses by Coren- 

 winder himself, it appears that a sound ripe banana fruit 

 contains as much as 22 per cent, of its weight of sugar, 

 16 per cent, being crystallizable and the remainder un- 

 crystallizable. In the mature sugar-cane the proportion 

 of cane-sugar present is, according to Payen, 18 per cent. 

 After the banana has become quite ripe, there is a rapid 

 diminution in the proportion of crystallizable sugar and 

 an increase in the proportion of inverted sugar, but not to 

 the same extent. An over-ripe fruit, the flesh of which 

 had become very mellow, contained only 2-48 per cent, of 

 crystallizable and 11-84 per cent, of uncrystallizable sugar, 

 being a total of 14-68 per cent, or two-thirds of the original 

 quantity. 



Analyses were made by Coren winder on bananas (Musa 

 Cavendishii) received from Brazil, on the edible portion 

 of the fruit deprived of its rind. Analysis of a ripe banana 

 gave: 



Water 



Crystallizable sugar . . 

 Inverted sugar ..... 



Cellulose . . ... 



Nitrogenous substances (0-342 N.) 



Pectin 



Fatty matter, organic acids, &c. 



Inorganic matter ..... 



100-000 



Estimates of the sugars made day by day until rottenness 

 began to set in gave the results shown on p. 131. 



Coren winder concludes his paper as follows : " Ainsi 

 que MM. Marcano et Muntz, je pense que la banane 

 pourrait etre 1'objet d'une importante exploitation in- 

 dustrielle, notamment pour produire un alcool excellent. 

 En France, on met souvent en fermentation, dans les 

 usines, les melasses avec du jus de betterave. Dans les 

 pays chauds, pour regulariser les fermentations de melasses 



