UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 634 



Contribution from the Bureau of Chemistry 

 ^C^"^^ CARL L. ALSBERG, Chief 



Washington, D. C. PROFESSIONAL PAPER April 4, 1918 



A PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL STUDY OF THE KAFIR 



KERNEL. 



By George L. Bidwell, 

 Chemist in Charge, Cattle Food and Grain Investigation Laboratory. 



The grains of nonsacckarine sorghums are becoming very impor- 

 tant commercially. Although heretofore largely limited in their 

 use to feeding farm animals, they are now being employed in increas- 

 ing amounts for human food, a matter which has been studied by the 

 Office of Home Economics of the Department of Agricuiture. 1 Fur- 

 thermore, the attention of manufacturers of alcohol and starch is 

 being turned to these grains. As a basis for a process which would 

 utilize nonsaccharine sorghums, probably one of the cheapest sources 

 of starch, in the manufacture of starch and feedstuffs, a study was 

 made in the Bureau of Chemistry of the physical characteristics and 

 chemical composition of the kafir kernel, and the various parts into 

 which it might be separated by milling. Kafir was selected because 

 it is typical of this class of grains, and economically as important as 

 any of them. Therefore a sample of Dawn kafir (Dwarf Blackhull), 

 C. I. 340, was obtained from the Bureau of Plant Industry for this 

 purpose. This sample was grown at the Cereal Field Station, 

 Amarillo, Tex., in 1915, and is the same grain as that used in the 

 food experiments. 1 



The kafir kernel shows some interesting physical characteristics. 

 It is obovoid, or broadly ellipsoid, convex on the outer or dorsal 

 surface, and somewhat flattened on the inner or ventral surface. It 

 might be considered as developed from a sphere by first rolling it 

 in such a way as to lengthen one diameter slightly, then flattening it 

 on one side. The tip is more or less pointed. Beneath the tip is the 

 hilum, or point of attachment of the seed. The outer end usually is 

 rounded, but often bears a tiny, double, claw-like point. The endo- 

 sperm, the main portion of the kernel, is horny without, inclosing a 

 white, starchy mass. The germ lies in a depression in the endosperm, 

 lear the tip of the seed. The kernel is covered with a thin skin or 

 >ran coat, dirty white in color, spotted or blotched with dark reddish 

 >rown or black. Figure 1 shows the interior structure of the seed. 



1 U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 470, and Farmers' Bui. 559. 

 17995°— 18— Bull. 634 



