THE DIGESTIBILITY OP THE DASHEEN. 9 



DISCUSSION OF RESULTS. 



The amount of dasheen eaten during the test periods varies from 

 an average of 376 grams per man per day in experiment No. 543 to 

 an average of 731 grams per man per day in experiment No. 522, the 

 general average for the 10 experiments being 547 grams per man per 

 day. 



Considering the 10 experiments with both the immature and ma- 

 ture dasheen together (see p. 8), it will be seen that, on an average, 

 41 grams of protein, 129 grams of fat, and 231 grams of carbohydrates 

 were eaten per man per day, of which 80.8 per cent of the' protein, 

 96.1 per cent of the fat, and 97.6 per cent of the carbohydrates sup- 

 plied by the total diet were digested. 



The coefficient of digestibility of the fat (99 per cent of which 

 was butter fat) furnished by the diet is not without interest. The 

 reported value, 96.1 per cent, approximates the value (97 per cent) 

 obtained in a study of the digestibility 1 of butter, in which the diet 

 was of an entirely different nature, namely, blancmange (containing 

 large amounts of butter), wheat biscuit, fruit, and tea or coffee with 

 sugar. In a later investigation, 2 in which butter supplied the greater 

 proportion of the fat of a diet of still different nature (hard palates 

 of cattle served in the form of a meat loaf, containing butter, potato, 

 crackers, and sugar) , butter fat was found to be 95 per cent digested. 

 The amounts of butter fat eaten per subject per day in the exper- 

 iments with dasheen, with butter, and with hard palates were 128 

 grams, 97 grams, and 106 grams, respectively. This agreement be- 

 tween the values determined for the digestibility of butter, when 

 eaten with different types of diets and under identical experimental 

 conditions, furnishes additional basis for the belief that a fat includ- 

 ed in a mixed diet is digested equally well regardless of the nature of 

 the other constituents of the diet. 



As regards the amounts of nutrients supplied by dasheens of dif- 

 ferent maturity, it will be seen that in the six experiments with the 

 immature dasheen an average of 40 grams of protein, 128 grams of 

 fat, and 229 grams of carbohydrates was eaten per man per day, 

 while in the four experiments with the mature dasheen the average 

 amounts were for all practical purposes identical, being 43 grams of 

 protein, 132 grams of fat, and 234 grams of carbohydrates daily. 



The average coefficient of digestibility of the carbohydrates of im- 

 mature and of mature dasheens was 97.5 per cent and 97.7 per cent, 

 respectively. Apparently in so far as the thoroughness of digestion 



1 U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 310 (1915), p. 21. 



2 U. S. Dept. Agr., Jour. Agr. Research, 6 (1916), No. 17, p. 647. 



