CHAPTER XIII 

 UTILIZATION OF THE PECAN 



Many important reports on nuts for human food are 

 coming from public and private laboratories, and the litera- 

 ture on the question has become voluminous. Nuts furnish 

 not only the elements required for human food, proteins, oils, 

 and carbohydrates, but also the vitamine B/ In fact, nuts 

 contain most of the mineral essentials for the building of 

 sound human tissue. The pecan is in the first rank of nuts 

 as human food, and the public is becoming better informed 

 as to its high food value, so that this nut is destined to have 

 an important place in the regular bill of fare. 



Considering the high oil-content of the kernels, it is not 

 improbable that some special use will be found for pecan oil. 

 As yet, however, the expressing of oil is not practiced com- 

 mercially, and the nuts are valued entirely for their meat or 

 kernel-content. 



The pecan kernel is highly nutritious and, when thoroughly 

 masticated, is easily digested. Probably no product of the 

 American soil is more palatable in its raw stage, even to the 

 novice, than the pecan. It is prized most highly for dessert 

 purposes. It is also coming into very extensive use in the 

 making of confectioneries, cakes, breads, and salads. 



^Cajori (1920) Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Chem. 17, 65. 



198 



