THE KAFIR KERNEL. 5 
might be covered with a protective film of some waxy or fatty mate- 
rial and it seemed worth while to ascertain the nature of it. A large 
quantity of whole kafir therefore was washed rapidly with ether 
and chloroform. This removed soluble material to the extent of 
one-tenth of 1 per cent. On examination this was found to contain 
16 per cent of unsaponifiable matter, which indicates that the kernel 
is probably covered with a film of waxy material. 
According to Baird x the amount of unsaponifiable matter in kafir 
fat is 1.7 per cent. The kafir fat studied by him, however, was a 
gasoline extract of the entire grain, and he described it as having a 
consistency like vaseline although somewhat harder. In this investi- 
gation the ether extract from the pure bran was found to be some- 
what harder than that described by Baird, and it was found that it 
hardened rapidly in the fat flasks and cracked from shrinking. The 
ether extract from the germ, on the other hand, was found to be a 
clear yellowish oil. The kafir fat described by Baird was a mixture 
of the solid extract from the bran and the liquid extract from the 
germ, as well as a small amount from the endosperm, and thus the 
material had the consistency he describes. 
In studying the analysis of the two portions of the endosperm of 
kafir and corn it will be noted that, though the protein is higher in 
the kafir, the horny endosperm in each case has more protein than 
has the starchy endosperm. The germs of corn and kafir are very 
similar in composition. 
Table IV gives the distribution of the various constituents among 
the different parts of the kernel expressed in percentages of the total 
amount of each constituent in the entire grain : 
Table IV. — Distribution of constituents. 
Material. 
Whole 
kafir. 
Ash. 
Ether 
extract. 
Crude 
protein 
(NX6.25). 
Crude 
fiber. 
Nitrogen- 
free ex- 
tract. 
Germ 
Bran | 
Starchy endosperm 
Horny endosperm.. 
Whole endosperm . . 
Per cent. 
10.0 
6.1 
35.0 
48.9 
83.9 
Per cent. 
77.9 
7.2 
6.2 
8.7 
14.9 
Per cent. 
75.2 
9.9 
6.7 
8.2 
14.9 
Per cent. 
15 5 
2.3 
28.4 
53.8 
82.2 
Per cent. 
19.1 
49.7 
14.1 
17.1 
31.2 
Per cent. 
4.1 
5.5 
38.4 
52.0 
90.4 
The results of this study show that corresponding parts of the 
kafir and corn kernels resemble each other in composition and appear- 
ance, and lead us to believe that if kafir were handled in a manner 
similar to that used in the preparation of corn products, kafir products 
might be substituted for the corresponding corn products. 
1 Oklahoma Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 89, June, 1910. 
