THE KAFIR KERNEL. 5 



might be covered with a protective film of some waxy or fatty mate- 

 rial and it seemed worth while to ascertain the nature of it. A large 

 quantity of whole kafir therefore was washed rapidly with ether 

 and chloroform. This removed soluble material to the extent of 

 one-tenth of 1 per cent. On examination this was found to contain 

 16 per cent of unsaponifiable matter, which indicates that the kernel 

 is probably covered with a film of waxy material. 



According to Baird x the amount of unsaponifiable matter in kafir 

 fat is 1.7 per cent. The kafir fat studied by him, however, was a 

 gasoline extract of the entire grain, and he described it as having a 

 consistency like vaseline although somewhat harder. In this investi- 

 gation the ether extract from the pure bran was found to be some- 

 what harder than that described by Baird, and it was found that it 

 hardened rapidly in the fat flasks and cracked from shrinking. The 

 ether extract from the germ, on the other hand, was found to be a 

 clear yellowish oil. The kafir fat described by Baird was a mixture 

 of the solid extract from the bran and the liquid extract from the 

 germ, as well as a small amount from the endosperm, and thus the 

 material had the consistency he describes. 



In studying the analysis of the two portions of the endosperm of 

 kafir and corn it will be noted that, though the protein is higher in 

 the kafir, the horny endosperm in each case has more protein than 

 has the starchy endosperm. The germs of corn and kafir are very 

 similar in composition. 



Table IV gives the distribution of the various constituents among 

 the different parts of the kernel expressed in percentages of the total 

 amount of each constituent in the entire grain : 



Table IV. — Distribution of constituents. 



Material. 



Whole 

 kafir. 



Ash. 



Ether 

 extract. 



Crude 



protein 



(NX6.25). 



Crude 

 fiber. 



Nitrogen- 

 free ex- 

 tract. 



Germ 



Bran 



Starchy endosperm 

 Horny endosperm. . 

 Whole endosperm . . 



Per cent. 

 10.0 

 6.1 

 35.0 

 48.9 

 83.9 



Per cent. 

 77.9 

 7.2 

 6.2 

 8.7 

 14.9 



Per cent. 

 75.2 

 9.9 

 6.7 

 8.2 

 14.9 



Per cent. 

 15 5 

 2.3 

 28.4 

 53.8 

 82.2 



Per cent. 

 19.1 

 49.7 

 14.1 

 17.1 

 31.2 



Per cent. 



4.1 



5.5 



38.4 



52.0 



90.4 



The results of this study show that corresponding parts of the 

 kafir and corn kernels resemble each other in composition and appear- 

 ance, and lead us to believe that if kafir were handled in a manner 

 similar to that used in the preparation of corn products, kafir products 

 might be substituted for the corresponding corn products. 



i Oklahoma Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 89, June, 1910. 



