UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 525 
Contribution from the States Relations Service -— ^ 
A. C. TRUE, Director -f,. jSZ&P^TU 
i+ 
Washington, D. C. PROFESSIONAL PAPER April 7, 1917 
EXPERIMENTS IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE 
DIGESTIBILITY OF MILLETS. 
By O. F. Langwokthy, Chief, and A. D. Holmes, Scientific Assistant, 
Office of Home Economics. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. I Page. 
Introduction 1 Analytical methods 3 
Preparation of food 2 | Details of the digestion experiments 3 
INTRODUCTION. 
In the study of the digestibility of the nonsaecharine grain sor- 
ghums, the results of which were reported in an earlier paper, 1 it 
was found that the carbohydrates were as completely utilized as 
those of the more common cereals — wheat, corn, oats, etc.— while 
the protein of the sorghums was much less available to the human 
body than that of the better-known cereals. This paper reports the 
results of a similar study of the digestibility of two millets, common 
millet {Setaria italica) and proso (Panicum miliaceum), which are 
grown in this country and which are of interest because of the pos- 
sible extension of their use. These grains have been little used for 
human food in this country, although the latter is receiving consid- 
erable attention in some sections. In Eussia it is reported 2 that the 
yearly per capita consumption of proso is 30 pounds; in oriental 
countries, especially among the poorer people, both of these cereals 
have been at times extensively employed in the dietary and are 
staple and well-known grains. 
!U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 470 (1916), Studies on The Digestibilty of the Grain Sorghums. 
2 Inaug. Diss., Imp. Mil. Med. Acad. [St. Petersburg], 1887. [Russian.] 
Note. — This is a technical report of studies of the digestibility of millet in relation 
to its use as food and is of special interest to investigators and students of human 
nutrition. 
75128°— Bull. 525—17 1 
