206 



[September, 1912. 



BANANAS AS FOOD. 



Mr. William Fawcett, B. Sc., P. L. S., writes to the West India 

 Committee Circular : — 



In considering the claims of any substance, whether animal or vege- 

 table, to be used as a food, it is necessary to ascertain whether it contains 

 the chemical elements needed by the body to repair the waste of the 

 tissues, and to supply energy for the production of heat and for the work 

 done in and by the body. These elements are known as proteins, carbo- 

 hydrates, fats, and mineral matter. As general examples of proteins, 

 the following substances may be quoted : Muscle or lean of meat, casein 

 (or cheesy matter) of milk, egg, gluten of flour. Proteins alone can supply 

 the nitrogenous material necessary for the formation of tissues. The 

 carbo-hydrates include such compounds as starches and sugars, and their 

 more important function is to supply energy to the body to meet its 

 requirements above that which it may obtain from the proteids. The 

 fats are digested with scarcely any waste, and supply energy like carbo- 

 hydrates ; so that the amount of either of these two elements may vary 

 largely according to taste so long as the total amount of both is sufficient. 

 Besides ascertaining the composition of a food-substance, its digestibility 

 should be considered as well as the amount of work that has to be expen- 

 ded in preparing it for the stomach. 



Composition of Banana Fruit 



Atwater and Miller, in an article on Dietetics in the eleventh edition 

 of the Encyclopaedia Britannica give the following percentage composi- 

 tion of bananas :— refuse 35'0, water 48'9, protein 0"8, fat 0'4, carbo- 

 hydrates 14 '3, mineral matter 0'6. Now, if the peel is removed from the 

 fruit, representing the refuse 35 percent., and allowance made for the 

 water, it will be seen that the banana contains a notable quantity of all 

 the necessary elements of food. 



The fruit may therefore be considered a highly nutritious food. It is 

 also easily digestible— the time occupied in digestion is small compared 

 with that of other foods, as the following times indicate : roast beef 3 

 hours 20 minutes, stale bread 3 hours 40 minutes, apples 2 hours 30 

 minutes, bananas 1 hour 45 minutes. 



The thick skin of the banana is a perfect protection against contamin- 

 ation of the fruit. It cannot be eaten like skin of the apple or the plum 

 and when removed, the fruit may be eaten without fear of dirt or germs, 

 even when it comes off the least inviting of costers' barrows— besides 

 there is no core or stone to slip down unawares. 



In the course of a speech on his return from a visit to Jamaica, Sir 

 James Orichton-Browne, M.D., said: "I wish all our school children 

 could have bananas from time to time. . . . The banana is not a 

 flavoured fruit, that is to say, a little sugar and water with a drop of 

 some essence thrown in, but a food fruit containing, in an agreeable form, 

 all the essential elements of nutrition • . . As an adjunct to our other 

 foods it is of great value, being at once acceptable to all— for it is not an 

 acquired taste— giving variety to the domestic diet, and mingling well 

 with other comestibles 



