March, 1909.] 



237 



Edible Products. 



has come into popular vogue. For years 

 past arrowroot has been utilised chiefly 

 for culinary purposes, such as the manu- 

 facture of superior quality biscuits, 

 light cakes, and easily digested foods 

 for invalids. 



Maranta and Canna. 

 The Queensland arrowroot is really 

 the starch product of a bulb of the 

 Canna tribe of plants — namely, Canna 

 edulis. This is mentioned particularly 

 because it differs from Bermuda arrow- 

 root, and cannot be sold in Great Britaiu 

 as arrowroot without some qualifying 

 term attached, such as "Queensland 

 arrowroot" or " Australian arrowroot." 

 How this has come about is rather 

 interesting. When the Drugs and Food 

 Act was passed by the Imperial Parlia- 

 ment, it was specified that arrowroot is 

 the product of the plant Maranta 

 arundinacece. That is what Bermuda 

 and Mauritius arrowroots are made 

 from ; and manufactured arrrowroot 

 from the Canna edidis was then practi- 

 cally unknown in Great Britain. How 

 little actual difference there is between 

 the two is iudicated by the following 

 analysis, taking the best Bermuda 

 arrowroot (Maranta arundinacece) at 2s. 

 6d. per lb., and the Queensland arrowroot 

 (Canna edidis) at 2d. or 3d. per lb. :— 



Bermuda Queensland 

 Arrowroot. Arrowroot. 

 Moisture ... 13-00 to 16 50 17-3(5 

 Starch ... 82-21 81-52 



Ash ... -124 -142 



Proteids ... -052 "078 



Fibre ... 4-09 to 1*20 -00 

 The result is, therefore, chemically 

 about the same, particularly in regard 

 to starch, which is the chief constituent. 

 There is a little more moisture in the 

 Canna, and more fibre in the Maranta. 

 Under the microscope the Canna arrow- 

 root shows a more silky texture, and the 

 grains are slightly coarser. 



The Maranta arundinacece grows 

 equally well in Queensland with the 

 Canna edidis, and arrowroot-groweis 

 have at various times cultivated it. It 

 lias been known as white arrowroot 

 (from the colour of the bulbs), while the 

 present article is called purple arrow- 

 root. The reason that Maranta has 

 never become popular here is that it 

 yields only half the quantity of arrow- 

 root given by the Canna, and the 

 growers could get no more for the 

 product; and also because the excess of 

 fibre in the Maranta made the matter of 

 treatment more difficult. 



Methods of Cultivation. 

 A visit to some of the arrowroot farms 

 has just been made to ascertain how the 



industry is progressing, and how it is 

 being conducted. There is a similarity 

 among them all. The rich alluvial 

 pockets along the banks of creeks are 

 the growing grounds. A manufacturing 

 plant, comprising boiler, engine, pump- 

 ing, pulping, and straining machinery 

 is required, which costs about £500. 

 Then there has to be a drying ground, 

 with the requisite frames, and a shed 

 for storage and packing purposes. 



The bulbs of the Canna are sown in 

 prepared ground from September to 

 December, when the weather is showery, 

 the rows being 6 ft. apart and 4 ft. 

 between the plants, The usual cultiva- 

 tion follows to keep the ground clear of 

 weeds until the plants get too big. A 

 field of Canna presents a pretty sight, 

 the broad leaves of dark-green giving a 

 fine impression of richness, and some- 

 times also scarlet flowers are to be seen 

 on the plants. From six to eight 

 months brings the crop to maturity, and 

 a little frost is then beneficial by shrivel- 

 ling up the tops and concentrating the 

 starch in the bulbs. The tops are cut 

 off by means of a cane knife or bill hook, 

 and the bulbs— something like potatoes, 

 but larger— are then dug as required 

 for milling. 



Process op Manufacture. 

 The bulbs are carted to the mill and 

 shovelled into a root-washer— a trough 

 10 ft. or 12 ft. long-, through which water 

 is continuously flowing, and in which a 

 splindle revolves and works the bulbs 

 up to the end of the trough. There an 

 elevator receives them and carries them 

 up to the mill. There they are grated in 

 a grinder, or perforated wooden drum, 

 revolving at great speed, and the pulp 

 passed through to a sieve of perforated 

 metal, clean water all the time falling on 

 the pulp. A beater forces the farina and 

 water through the sieve, while the fibre is 

 discharged on to a dump. The farina 

 from the sieve goes into a revolving 

 copper drum, which has also perforated 

 sides, and this takes away some more 

 of the impurities, while the farina goes 

 down into a long trough, through which 

 a stream of water is constantly running 

 The arrowroot settles at the bottom of 

 the trough, and after some hours of 

 washing is dug out and put into tubs, 

 or other troughs, and more clean water 

 with it. That is repeated three times 

 the farina during the last having to 

 pass through a sieve of a fine muslin. 

 After that the arrowroot is dug out- 

 placed on calico sheets, and put out 

 on frames to dry. The whole process, 

 from the digging of the bulbs to the 

 drying of the prepared arrowroot, 

 occupies about twenty-four hours. 



