:uti STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
.^EjSixesJv 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1194 
Washington, D. C. 
December 22,. 1923 
A CHEMICAL AND STRUCTURAL STUDY OF MESQUiTE, CAROB, AND HONEY 
LOCUST BEANS. 
By G. P. Walton, A 'tile Food and Grain Investigation Laboratory, 
Bureau of Chemistry. 1 
CONTENTS. 
Purpose of investigation. 
Occurrence 
ing value 
Page. Page. 
1 Experimental work 5 
1 Summary 17 
3 Literature cited 18 
PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION. 
Great quantities of mesquite beans are allowed to go to waste each 
year in the United States. In an effort to promote their utilization 
the Bureau of ^Chemistry undertook an investigation to determine 
whether or not these beans might be made to serve some useful pur- 
The literature was searched for data on the nutritive value of the 
mesquite fruit. Samples were analyzed in the laboratory to de- 
termine the content of sugar and other crude nutrients, and a process 
for separating the mesquite bean into its component parts was de- 
vised. The results of this work, supplemented by notes on carob 
and honey locust beans, are given in the following pages. 
OCCURRENCE. 
MESQUITE Prosopis juliflora DC). 
Mesquite,. the most common woody plant of the southwestern arid 
■n. has overrun millions of acres in the southwestern part of the 
United States. Its invasion of grazing lands, especially in Texas, 
has been so extensive and has occurred so rapidly that it may be com- 
pared to the inroads of the boll weevil into the Cotton Belt. 
Mesquite grows over a wide range of territory and will flourish 
where the more valuable carob can not exist. It is cornmon in 
Hawaii, where it was introduced in 1828 and is known as the alga- 
roba 2 or kiawe bean t9 . and in Jamaica, where it has been called 
i The work here reported was conducted under the supervision of G. L. Bidwell, chemist in charge, 
Fool and Grain Inve-tigition Laboratory. If. R. Coe, C E. Goodrich, and F. G. Cauffman assisted 
in the analytical work. C. V. Piper, agrostologist in charge, forage-crop investigations, Bureau of 
Plant Indu-try, prepared the statement on the taxonomy of the mesquite and gave several references to 
the literature. 
J Shorev (19) states that "algeroba" is the usual Hawaiian way of spelling and that this plant is not the 
true algaroba. 
J Italic numbers in parentheses throughout this bulletin refer to Literature Cited, page 18. 
59077—23—1 
