UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 525 



Contribution from the States Relations Service 

 A. C. TRUE, Director 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



April 7, 1917 



EXPERIMENTS IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE 

 DIGESTIBILITY OF MILLETS. 



By O. F. Langworthy, Chief, and A. D. Holmes, Scientific Assistant, 

 Office of Home Economics. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 



Preparation of food . 



Page. 

 1 

 2 



Page. 



Analytical methods 3 



Details of the digestion experiments 3 



INTRODUCTION. 



In the study of the digestibility of the nonsaccharine grain sor- 

 ghums, the results of which were reported in an earlier paper, ^ it 

 was found riat the carbohydrates were as completely utilized as 

 those of the more common cereals — wheat, corn, oats, etc. — while 

 the protein of the sorghums was much less available to the human 

 body than that of the better-known cereals. This paper reports the 

 results of a similar study of the digestibility of two millets, common 

 millet {Setaria italica) and proso {Panicwm miliaceum)^ which are 

 grown in this country and which are of interest because of the pos- 

 sible extension of their use. These grains have been little used for 

 human food in this country, although the latter is receiving consid- 

 erable attention in some sections. In Russia it is reported ^ that the 

 yearly per capita consumption of proso is 30 pounds; in oriental 

 countries, especially among the poorer people, both of these cereals 

 have been at times extensively employed in the dietary and are 

 staple and well-known grains. 



lU. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 470 (1916), Studies on The Digestibilty of the Grain Sorghums. 



2 Inaug. Diss., Imp. Mil. Med. Acad. [St. Petersburg], 1887. [Russian.] 



Note. — This is a technical report of studies of the digestibility of millet in relation 



to its use as food and is of special interest to investigators and students of human 



nutrition. 



75128°— Bull. 525—17 1 



