232 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
Comparing these figures with those for wheat preparations 
it will be seen that as regards digestibility of protein the un- 
cooked preparations will agree with entire wheat bread, and 
the cooked preparations agree with the graham bread. 
Effect of the so-called ‘‘predigestion’’ of cereal products'\—The 
nutrients, of the so-called ‘‘“predigested’’ or malted products 
were no more thoroughly digested than those of the prepara- 
tions not malted. In other words, the treatment with malt did 
not render available to the body any greater amount of nutri- 
ents than was obtained from the preparations not malted. 
What, then, is the supposed advantage of this process? 
It has already been stated that a part of the natural process 
of digestion consists in the conversion of starch into sugar. If 
for any reason the digestion of starch is not easily carried on in 
the body, or is accompanied by discomfort, then it might be 
some advantage, at least temporarily, to convert the starch into 
sugar outside of the body. ‘The starch of grain may be con- 
verted into sugar by the action of the ferment in malt. ‘The 
supposed object of the malting process, therefore, is to increase 
the ease with which the carbohydrates of the cereal may be di- 
gested. ‘The success of the treatment depends upon the extent 
to which the starch has actually been converted. 
The actual conversion of starch by such treatment appears 
to be at best rather limited. Several studies have been made 
to learn how much of the starch in ‘‘ predigested’’ preparations 
has really been converted into soluble material. In some cases 
malt sugar has been found in appreciable quantities, but in no’ 
case did one-half of the starch appear to have been converted; 
and ina considerable number of cases only a quarter or less had 
been changed. ‘The average of all results would hardly equala 
third of the total starch present. 
On the other hand, some of the investigations have given 
grounds for suspicion that none of the starch had been con- 
verted into sugar, but maltose or dextrine had simply been 
added to the unmalted grain. It has already been explained 
that the result of the action of the malt ferment on starch is 
the production of malt sugar, and not grape sugar, the two be- 
ing quite different. One investigator has suggested that ‘‘a 
