35. Influence Of Manufacturing Process And Cooking On The Ash Constituents Of Plant Substance

Many substances utilized as human food, especially grain products, have an ash content that is determined more or less by certain processes of manufacture, especially milling. For instance, wheat flour is only a part of the kernel, the bran being removed. This bran, which is the outside of the kernel, is especially rich in mineral ingredients, much richer than the inner part of the kernel.

Table X. Ash Content of Wheat And Its Milling Products

TABLE X

Ash Content of Wheat and its Milling Products

Water

Ash

Per Cent

Per Cent

Wheat kernel

10.2

1.8

Wheat flour

10.6

0.4

Wheat germ

10.4

2.7

Wheat shorts

10.1

3.1

Wheat bran

10.4

5.9

The whole kernel contains about 2 per cent of ash, the bran about 6 per cent, and wheat flour less than.5 per cent. When vegetables and meats are cooked in water or are steamed, the soluble salts are leached out, in part at least. 36. The mineral compounds of animal bodies. - The mineral compounds of animals are nearly similar in kind to those of plants, but are very different in relative proportions. This is made plain by a comparison of the figures given below: -

Table XI. Ash In Plants And Animals (Per Cent)

TABLE XI

Ash in Plants and Animals (Per Cent)

Total

Potash

Soda

Lime

Magnesia

Phosphoric Acid

Sulfuric Acid

Silicic Acid

Chlorine

Dry substance

Maize kernel. .

1.4

.43

.02

0.03

.22

0.66

.01

.03

.01

Wheat kernel. .

2.0

.61

.04

0.06

.24

0.93

.01

.04

Fresh bodies

•

Fat ox ... .

3.9

.14

.12

1.74

.05

1.56

.01

Fat sheep . . .

2.9

.14

.13

1.19

.04

1.13

.02

Fat swine . . .

1.8

.10

.07

0.77

.03

0.73

Potash is much less prominent in the composition of the animal than is the case with plants, and phosphoric acid and lime are much more so. In general, more than 80 per cent of the ash of the animal body consists of phosphoric acid and lime in combination largely as calcium phosphate, whereas these two compounds constitute less than one-half of the ash of maize and wheat kernels.