28 



Mineral composition of the ash from the pulp of the Brazilian 

 Banana. 



Potassium sulphate ... ' 3.61 



Potassium chloride ... 14.34 



Magnesium phosphate ... 8.24 



Potassium phosphate ... 27.12 



Potassium carbonate ... 41.66 



Magnesium carbonate ... 6.54 ? 



Oalcium carbonate ... 1.17 



Ferric oxide ... 0.36 



Silica ... 2.96 



100.00 



In the South Kensington Museum Handbook on " Food " (reprint 

 of 1893, p. 135) Professor Church, F.R.S., gives an analysis of fresh 

 peele ! bananas (apparently nearly, if not quite, ripe). This affords in 

 formation on a point not already discussed. The bananas were those 

 usually sold in shops in this country, and it is not improbable they 

 were Canary bananas yielded by Musa Cavendishii. 



^' Fresh-peeled bananas contain : — 



In 100 parts. Id lib. oz. grains 



Water ... 73.9 11. 361 



Albaminoids, etc. ... 1.7 119 



Sugar and pectose 22.8 3 283 



Fat ... 0.6 42 



Cellulose ... 0.2 14 



Mineral Mitter ... 0.8 56 



The nutrient ratio is here 1.14 ; the nutrient value is 24." 



The "nutrient-ratio" amongst the nutrients of daily food is that 

 between the albuminoids or ''flesh-formers," and the carbohydrates plus 

 the fat reckoned a? starch, or ''heat-givers." In the standard dietary 

 adopted it is 1 : 4|. 



For the sake of making a rough comparison between various foods 

 it is a convenient plan to add together the per-centages of albuminoids, 

 starch, dextrin, and sugar, and the starch equivalent of any fat present. 

 The stim of these constituents is called the "nutrient-value"; this 

 value is that of 100 parts. 



A further sample of ripe bananas (a variety of M. sapientum) 

 grown in the Palm House at Kew was submitted to Professor (/hurch 

 in May last. The results of his analysis are as follows : — 



Water in pulp 68.3 per cent. 



Dry matter in pulp 31.7 " 



Albuminoids, calculated from total 



nitrogen in pulp 1.515 " 

 True albuminoids in ditto bj 



phenol method 1.03 " 



"The latter figures seem to show that one-third of the nitrogen in 

 the just-ripe pulp exists in non-albuminoid forms." 



