Human Foods and Their Nutritive Value Part 1

Human Foods and Their Nutritive Value.

by Harry Snyder.

PREFACE

Since 1897 instruction has been given at the University of Minnesota, College of Agriculture, on human foods and their nutritive value. With the development of the work, need has been felt for a text-book presenting in concise form the composition and physical properties of foods, and discussing some of the main factors which affect their nutritive value. To meet the need, this book has been prepared, primarily for the author's cla.s.sroom. It aims to present some of the principles of human nutrition along with a study of the more common articles of food. It is believed that a better understanding of the subject of nutrition will suggest ways in which foods may be selected and utilized more intelligently, resulting not only in pecuniary saving, but also in greater efficiency of physical and mental effort.

Prominence is given in this work to those foods, as flour, bread, cereals, vegetables, meats, milk, dairy products, and fruits, that are most extensively used in the dietary, and to some of the physical, chemical, and bacteriological changes affecting digestibility and nutritive value which take place during their preparation for the table.

Dietary studies, comparative cost and value of foods, rational feeding of men, and experiments and laboratory practice form features of the work. Some closely related topics, largely of a sanitary nature, as the effect upon food of household sanitation and storage, are also briefly discussed. References are given in case more extended information is desired on some of the subjects treated. While this book was prepared mainly for students who have taken a course in general chemistry, it has been the intention to present the topics in such a way as to be understood by the layman also.

This work completes a series of text-books undertaken by the author over ten years ago, dealing with agricultural and industrial subjects: "Chemistry of Plant and Animal Life," "Dairy Chemistry," "Soils and Fertilizers," and "Human Foods and their Nutritive Value." It has been the aim in preparing these books to avoid as far as possible repet.i.tion, but at the same time to make each work sufficiently complete to permit its use as a text independent of the series.

One of the greatest uses that science can serve is in its application to the household and the everyday affairs of life. Too little attention is generally bestowed upon the study of foods in schools and colleges, and the author sincerely hopes the time will soon come when more prominence will be given to this subject, which is the oldest, most important, most neglected, and least understood of any that have a direct bearing upon the welfare of man.

HARRY SNYDER.

HUMAN FOODS AND THEIR NUTRITIVE VALUE

CHAPTER I

GENERAL COMPOSITION OF FOODS

1. Water.--All foods contain water. Vegetables in their natural condition contain large amounts, often 95 per cent, while in meats there is from 40 to 60 per cent or more. Prepared cereal products, as flour, corn meal, and oatmeal, which are apparently dry, have from 7 to 14 per cent. In general the amount of water in a food varies with the mechanical structure and the conditions under which it has been prepared, and is an important factor in estimating the value, as the nutrients are often greatly decreased because of large amounts of water.

The water in substances as flour and meal is mechanically held in combination with the fine particles and varies with the moisture content, or hydroscopicity, of the air. Oftentimes foods gain or lose water to such an extent as to affect their weight; for example, one hundred pounds of flour containing 12 per cent of water may be reduced in weight three pounds or more when stored in a dry place, or there may be an increase in weight from being stored in a damp place. In tables of a.n.a.lyses the results, unless otherwise stated, are usually given on the basis of the original material, or the dry substance. Potatoes, for example, contain 2-1/2 per cent of crude protein on the basis of 75 per cent of water; or on a dry matter basis, that is, when the water is entirely eliminated, there is 10 per cent of protein.

The water of foods is determined by drying the weighed material in a water or air oven at a temperature of about 100 C, until all of the moisture has been expelled in the form of steam, leaving the dry matter or material free from water.[1] The determination of dry matter, while theoretically a simple process, is attended with many difficulties.

Substances which contain much fat may undergo oxidation during drying; volatile compounds, as essential oils, are expelled along with the moisture; and other changes may occur affecting the accuracy of the work. The last traces of moisture are removed with difficulty from a substance, being mechanically retained by the particles with great tenacity. When very accurate dry matter determinations are desired, the substance is dried in a vacuum oven, or in a desiccator over sulphuric acid, or in an atmosphere of some non-oxidizing gas, as hydrogen.

2. Dry Matter.--The dry matter of a food is a mechanical mixture of the various compounds, as starch, sugar, fat, protein, cellulose, and mineral matter, and is obtained by drying the material. Succulent vegetable foods with 95 per cent of water contain only 5 per cent of dry matter, while in flour with 12 per cent of water there is 88 per cent, and in sugar 99 per cent. The dry matter is obtained by subtracting the per cent of water from 100, and in foods it varies from 5 per cent and less in some vegetables to 99 per cent in sugar.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 1.--APPARATUS USED FOR THE DETERMINATION OF DRY MATTER AND ASH IN FOODS.

1, desiccator; 2, m.u.f.fle furnace for combustion of foods and obtaining ash; 3, water oven for drying food materials.]

3. Ash.--The ash, or mineral matter, is that portion obtained by burning or igniting the dry matter at the lowest temperature necessary for complete combustion. The ash in vegetable foods ranges from 2 to 5 per cent and, together with the nitrogen, represents what was taken from the soil during growth. In animal bodies, the ash is present mainly in the bones, but there is also an appreciable amount, one per cent or more, in all the tissues. Ash is exceedingly variable in composition, being composed of the various salts of pota.s.sium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and iron, as sulphates, phosphates, chlorides, and silicates of these elements. There are also other elements in small amounts. In the plant economy these elements take an essential part and are requisite for the formation of plant tissue and the production in the leaves of the organic compounds which later are stored up in the seeds.

Some of the elements appear to be more necessary than others, and whenever withheld plant growth is restricted. The elements most essential for plant growth are pota.s.sium, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, and sulphur.[1]

In the animal body minerals are derived, either directly or indirectly, from the vegetable foods consumed. The part which each of the mineral elements takes in animal nutrition is not well understood. Some of the elements, as phosphorus and sulphur, are in organic combination with the nitrogenous compounds, as the nucleated alb.u.minoids, which are very essential for animal life. In both plant and animal bodies, the mineral matter is present as mineral salts and organic combinations. It is held that the ash elements which are in organic combination are the forms mainly utilized for tissue construction. While it is not known just what part all the mineral elements take in animal nutrition, experiments show that in all ordinary mixed rations the amount of the different mineral elements is in excess of the demands of the body, and it is only in rare instances, as in cases of restricted diet, or convalescence from some disease, that special attention need be given to increasing the mineral content of the ration. An excess of mineral matter in foods is equally as objectionable as a scant amount, elimination of the excess entailing additional work on the body.

The composition of the ash of different food materials varies widely, both in amount, and form of the individual elements. When for any reason it is necessary to increase the phosphates in a ration, milk and eggs do this to a greater extent than almost any other foods. Common salt, or sodium chloride, is one of the most essential of the mineral const.i.tuents of the body. It is necessary for giving the blood its normal composition, furnishing acid and basic const.i.tuents for the production of the digestive fluids, and for the nutrition of the cells.

While salt is a necessary food, in large amounts, as when the attempt is made to use sea water as a beverage, it acts as a poison, suggesting that a material may be both a food and a poison. When sodium chloride is entirely withheld from an animal, death from salt starvation ensues.

Many foods contain naturally small amounts of sodium chloride.

4. Organic Matter.--That portion of a food material which is converted into gaseous or volatile products during combustion is called the organic matter. It is a mechanical mixture of compounds made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur, and is composed of various individual organic compounds, as cellulose, starch, sugar, alb.u.min, and fat. The amount in a food is determined by subtracting the ash and water from 100. The organic matter varies widely in composition; in some foods it is largely starch, as in potatoes and rice, while in others, as forage crops consumed by animals, cellulose predominates. The nature of the prevailing organic compound, as sugar or starch, determines the nutritive value of a food. Each has a definite chemical composition capable of being expressed by a formula. Considered collectively, the organic compounds are termed organic matter. When burned, the organic compounds are converted into gases, the carbon uniting with the oxygen of the air to form carbon dioxide, hydrogen to form water, sulphur to form sulphur dioxide, and the nitrogen to form oxides of nitrogen and ammonia.

5. Cla.s.sification of Organic Compounds.--All food materials are composed of a large number of organic compounds. For purposes of study these are divided into cla.s.ses. The element nitrogen is taken as the basis of the division. Compounds which contain this element are called nitrogenous, while those from which it is absent are called non-nitrogenous.[2] The nitrogenous organic compounds are composed of the elements nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and sulphur, while the non-nitrogenous compounds are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.

In vegetable foods the non-nitrogenous compounds predominate, there being usually from six to twelve parts of non-nitrogenous to every one part of nitrogenous, while in animal foods the nitrogenous compounds are present in larger amount.

NON-NITROGENOUS COMPOUNDS

6. Occurrence.--The non-nitrogenous compounds of foods consist mainly of cellulose, starch, sugar, and fat. For purposes of study, they are divided into subdivisions, as carbohydrates, pectose substances or jellies, fats, organic acids, essential oils, and mixed compounds. In plants the carbohydrates predominate, while in animal tissue the fats are the chief non-nitrogenous const.i.tuents.

7. Carbohydrates.--This term is applied to a cla.s.s of compounds similar in general composition, but differing widely in structural composition and physical properties. Carbohydrates make up the bulk of vegetable foods and, except in milk, are found only in traces in animal foods. They are all represented by the general formula CH_2n_2n, there being twice as many hydrogen as oxygen atoms, the hydrogen and oxygen being present in the same proportion as in water. As a cla.s.s, the carbohydrates are neutral bodies, and, when burned, form carbon dioxide and water.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 2.--CELLULAR STRUCTURE OF PLANT CELL.]

8. Cellulose is the basis of the cell structure of plants, and is found in various physical forms in food materials.[3] Sometimes it is hard and dense, resisting digestive action and mechanically inclosing other nutrients and thus preventing their being available as food. In the earlier stages of plant growth a part of the cellulose is in chemical combination with water, forming hydrated cellulose, a portion of which undergoes digestion and produces heat and energy in the body.

Ordinarily, however, cellulose adds but little in the way of nutritive value, although it is often beneficial mechanically and imparts bulk to some foods otherwise too concentrated. The mechanical action of cellulose on the digestion of food is discussed in Chapter XV.

Cellulose usually makes up a very small part of human food, less than 1 per cent. In refined white flour there is less than .05 of a per cent; in oatmeal and cereal products from .5 to 1 per cent, depending upon the extent to which the hulls are removed, and in vegetable foods from .1 to 1 per cent. The cellulose content of foods is included in the crude fiber of the chemist's report.

9. Starch occurs widely distributed in nature, particularly in the seeds, roots, and tubers of some plants. It is formed in the leaves of plants as a result of the joint action of chlorophyll and protoplasm, and is generally held by plant physiologists to be the first carbohydrate produced in the plant cell. Starch is composed of a number of overlapping layers separated by starch cellulose; between these layers the true starch or amylose is found. Starch from the various cereals and vegetables differs widely in mechanical structure; in wheat it is circular, in corn somewhat angular, and in parsnips exceedingly small, while potato starch granules are among the largest.[4] The nature of starch can be determined largely from its mechanical structure as studied under the microscope. It is insoluble in cold water because of the protecting action of the cellular layer, but on being heated it undergoes both mechanical and chemical changes; the grains are partially ruptured by pressure due to the conversion into steam of the moisture held mechanically. The cooking of foods is beneficial from a mechanical point of view, as it results in partial disintegration of the starch ma.s.ses, changing the structure so that the starch is more readily acted upon by the ferments of the digestive tract. At a temperature of about 120 C. starch begins to undergo chemical change, resulting in the rearrangement of the atoms in the molecule with the production of dextrine and soluble carbohydrates. Dextrine is formed on the crust of bread, or whenever potatoes or starchy foods are browned. At a still higher temperature starch is decomposed, with the liberation of water and production of compounds of higher carbon content. When heated in contact with water, it undergoes hydration changes; gelatinous-like products are formed, which are finally converted into a soluble condition. In cooking cereals, the hydration of the starch is one of the main physical and chemical changes that takes place, and it simply results in converting the material into such a form that other chemical changes may more readily occur. Before starch becomes dextrose, hydration is necessary. If this is accomplished by cooking, it saves the body just so much energy in digestion. Many foods owe their value largely to the starch. In cereals it is found to the extent of 72 to 76 per cent; in rice and potatoes in still larger amounts; and it is the chief const.i.tuent of many vegetables. When starch is digested, it is first changed to a soluble form and then gradually undergoes oxidation, resulting in the production of heat and energy, the same products--carbon dioxide and water--being formed as when starch is burned. Starch is a valuable heat-producing nutrient; a pound yields 1860 calories. See Chapter XV.

10. Sugar.--Sugars are widely distributed in nature, being found princ.i.p.ally in the juices of the sugar cane, sugar beet, and sugar maple. They are divided into two large cla.s.ses: the sucrose group and the dextrose group, the latter being produced from sucrose, starch, and other carbohydrates by inversion and allied chemical changes. Because of the importance of sugar in the dietary, Chapter V is devoted to the subject.

11. Pectose Substances are jelly-like bodies found in fruits and vegetables. They are closely related in chemical composition to the carbohydrates, into which form they are changed during digestion; and in nutrition they serve practically the same function. In the early stages of growth the pectin bodies are combined with organic acids, forming insoluble compounds, as the pectin in green apples. During the ripening of fruit and the cooking of vegetables, the pectin is changed to a more soluble and digestible condition. In food a.n.a.lysis, the pectin is usually included with the carbohydrates.

12. Nitrogen-free-extract.--In discussing the composition of foods, the carbohydrates other then cellulose, as starch, sugar, and pectin, are grouped under the name of nitrogen-free-extract. Methods of chemical a.n.a.lysis have not yet been sufficiently perfected to enable accurate and rapid determination to be made of all these individual carbohydrates, and hence they are grouped together as nitrogen-free-extract. As the name indicates, they are compounds which contain no nitrogen, and are extractives in the sense that they are soluble in dilute acid and alkaline solutions. The nitrogen-free-extract is determined indirectly, that is, by the method of difference. All the other const.i.tuents of a food, as water, ash, crude fiber (cellulose), crude protein, and ether extract, are determined; the total is subtracted from 100, and the difference is nitrogen-free-extract. In studying the nutritive value of foods, particular attention should be given to the nature of the nitrogen-free-extract, as in some instances it is composed of sugar and in others of starch, pectin, or pentosan (gum sugars). While all these compounds have practically the same fuel value, they differ in composition, structure, and the way in which they are acted upon by chemicals and digestive ferments.[1]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 3.--APPARATUS USED FOR THE DETERMINATION OF FAT.]

13. Fat.--Fat is found mainly in the seeds of plants, but to some extent in the leaves and stems. It differs from starch in containing more carbon and less oxygen. In starch there is about 44 per cent of carbon, while in fat there is 75 per cent. Hence it is that when fat is burned or undergoes combustion, it yields a larger amount of the products of combustion--carbon dioxid and water--than does starch. A gram of fat produces 2-1/4 times as much heat as a gram of starch. Fat is the most concentrated non-nitrogenous nutrient. As found in food materials, it is a mechanical mixture of various fats, among which are stearin, palmitin, and olein. Stearin and palmitin are hard fats, crystalline in structure, and with a high melting point, while olein is a liquid. In addition to these three, there are also small amounts of other fats, as butyrin in b.u.t.ter, which give character or individuality to materials. There are a number of vegetable fats or oils which are used for food purposes and, when properly prepared and refined, have a high nutritive value. Occasionally one fat of cheaper origin but not necessarily of lower nutritive value is subst.i.tuted for another. The fats have definite physical and chemical properties which enable them to be readily distinguished, as iodine number, specific gravity, index of refraction, and heat of combustion. By iodine number is meant the percentage of iodine that will unite chemically with the fat. Wheat oil has an iodine number of about 100, meaning that one pound of wheat oil will unite chemically with one pound of iodine. Fats have a lower specific gravity than water, usually ranging from .89 to .94, the specific gravity of a fat being fairly constant. All fats can be separated into glycerol and a fatty acid, glycerol or glycerine being common const.i.tuents, while each fat yields its own characteristic acid, as stearin, stearic acid; palmitin, palmitic acid; and olein, oleic acid. The fats are soluble in ether, chloroform, and benzine. In the chemical a.n.a.lysis of foods, they are separated with ether, and along with the fat, variable amounts of other substances are extracted, these extractive products usually being called "ether extract" or "crude fat."[5] The ether extract of plant tissue contains in addition to fat appreciable amounts of cellulose, gums, coloring, and other materials.

From cereal products the ether extract is largely fat, but in some instances lecithin and other nitrogenous fatty substances are present, while in animal food products, as milk and meat, the ether extract is nearly pure fat.

14. Organic Acids.--Many vegetable foods contain small amounts of organic acids, as malic acid found in apples, citric in lemons, and tartaric in grapes. These give characteristic taste to foods, but have no direct nutritive value. They do not yield heat and energy as do starch, fat, and protein; they are, however, useful for imparting flavor and palatability, and it is believed they promote to some extent the digestion of foods with which they are combined by encouraging the secretion of the digestive fluids. Many fruits and vegetables owe their dietetic value to the organic acids which they contain. In plants they are usually in chemical combination with the minerals, forming compounds as salts, or with the organic compounds, producing materials as acid proteins. In the plant economy they take an essential part in promoting growth and aiding the plant to secure by osmotic action its mineral food from the soil. Organic acids are found to some extent in animal foods, as the various lactic acids of meat and milk. They are also formed in food materials as the result of ferment action. When seeds germinate, small amounts of carbohydrates are converted into organic acids. In general the organic acids are not to be considered as nutrients, but as food adjuncts, increasing palatability and promoting digestion.

15. Essential Oils.--Essential or volatile oils differ from fats, or fixed oils, in chemical composition and physical properties.[6] The essential oils are readily volatilized, leaving no permanent residue, while the fixed fats are practically non-volatile. Various essential oils are present in small amounts in nearly all vegetable food materials, and the characteristic flavor of many fruits is due to them.

It is these compounds which are used for flavoring purposes, as discussed in Chapter IV. The amount in a food material is very small, usually only a few hundredths of a per cent. The essential oils have no direct food value, but indirectly, like the organic acids, they a.s.sist in promoting favorable digestive action, and are also valuable because they impart a pleasant taste. Through poor methods of cooking and preparation, the essential oils are readily lost from some foods.

16. Mixed Compounds.--Food materials frequently contain compounds which do not naturally fall into the five groups mentioned,--carbohydrates, pectose substances, fats, organic acids, and essential oils. The amount of such compounds is small, and they are cla.s.sed as miscellaneous or mixed non-nitrogenous compounds. Some of them may impart a negative value to the food, and there are others which have all the characteristics, as far as general composition is concerned, of the non-nitrogenous compounds, but contain nitrogen, although as a secondary rather than an essential const.i.tuent.

17. Nutritive Value of Non-nitrogenous Compounds.--The non-nitrogenous compounds, taken as a cla.s.s, are incapable alone of sustaining life, because they do not contain any nitrogen, and this is necessary for producing proteid material in the animal body. They are valuable for the production of heat and energy, and when a.s.sociated with the nitrogenous compounds, are capable of forming non-nitrogenous reserve tissue. It is equally impossible to sustain life for any prolonged period with the nitrogenous compounds alone. It is when these two cla.s.ses are properly blended and naturally united in food materials that their main value is secured. For nutrition purposes they are mutually related and dependent. Some food materials contain the nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous compounds blended in such proportion as to enable one food alone to practically sustain life, while in other cases it is necessary, in order to secure the best results in the feeding of animals and men, to combine different foods varying in their content of these two cla.s.ses of compounds.[7]

NITROGENOUS COMPOUNDS

18. General Composition.--The nitrogenous compounds are more complex in composition than the non-nitrogenous. They are composed of a larger number of elements, united in different ways so as to form a much more complex molecular structure. Foods contain numerous nitrogenous organic compounds, which, for purposes of study, are divided into four divisions,--proteids, alb.u.minoids, amids, and alkaloids. In addition to these, there are other nitrogenous compounds which do not naturally fall into any one of the four divisions.