Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-05-06
VALUE OF FRUIT=
It's Importance as a Cron ,na
a Food. ~ as
a Food.

case OF the apple, the fr o. -,
rant, all Of which are mnch ne cur
- lne orange Or the pear th hyperion
OF which in this respect is ne value,
but little, indeed, above .ery low
maeermelon The water contau me
Iresn fruits vary, for examn'e ents Of
se~venty-nve in the banana n rom
TWO IN the watermelon. Fsu, n.nety-
contain more than one and fruits
PEI cent. of p~roteine, which i enalf
me apple and the peach, whil Iot N
sugar and similar carbo-hvdratast the,
rlcnest in the banana among ia, are
known In this country, the near 'a,ts'
cnerry, the grape and the Inc
last named containing soma th;, Tue
PEE cent, while the banana conta; sa
twenty-one per cent. D'alns
a cnange takes place in the ro,.
tive proportions OF feeding mae .Ia'
and water when fruit is dried Ia
the pear takes precedence Of +ha 1ele
pie and the banana. The reme ap-
equally applies to the raspberry TN
ralsln and the fig. The raisin. for oS
ample, contains seventy-three no-
cent. or carbohydrates, against fftr
nVe IN the banana and sizty-tvo in
the apple, but it is closely apnroachoa
py q Zante currant and the nrnno
Yet IN almost all cases dried fr,,it,.
are poor in proteine, or musc]e-n.k
ing matter, the apple standing at ono
and a half, the banana five and -
quarter, the pear two and three-onar-
ters, the ralsin and the currant two
and a half and the raspberry sevan
and a quarter, the last named when
dried containing a very small QUAINT.
" OF water. In the apple, which is O.
OFTEN regarded as a model fruit. TWEEN.
ty-hVe per cent. is refuse, while eigh.
ty-f1ve per cent. Of the edible portion
consists OF water, but the banana.
rightly considered as a useful food.
contains t~hirty-ive per cent. of refuse.
The composition of fruits changes
with their growth, and as they ripen
under storage, the ripe fruits contain.
Ing less acid and more sugar, hence
the Importance of ripeness in the ci.
der apple and a high sugar percent
age. The digestion of ripe fruit il
easier, no doubt, owing to the fact
that the less digestible starch has
been changed into sugar. Where
fruit has been entirely relied upon as
a diet, as in several series of Ameri-
can experiments, nuts furnished the
proteine, olives the oil and fruits pro-
per-, both fresh and dried, the chief
carbohydrates, SO that even in this
class of food mixed diet is essential.
AS regards digestion, it was found in
thirty experiments with men that
per cent. of the fat, seven
per cent. Of the proteine and
n~inety-fve per cent. of the carbo-ny-
drates were digested when the food
consisted of fruit and nuts, the result
being but little inferior to the diges-
tive percentage in ninety-three e7per-
[ments with men fed upon an ordi-
nary mixed diet. Although ripe
are thoroughly digested-sweet
Ill Ou0 L0SL tdhluS one Il a.
half hours when uncooked, sour ap-
pies requiring two hours-the acids
present in these as in other fruits fire.
luently affect persons Of weak diges-
Ion or those to whom acids are trou-
blesome. The flesh of fruit being
more easily dealt with by the diges-
i've juices when cooked suggests the
Importance of cooking, and of good
cooking. But the cooking of fruit re-
moves a portion Of the sugar-nearly
i've per cent. in apples, for example,
md seven per cent. in peaches; hence
he value of the juice. Again, the
employment Of fruit on the table,
when combined, as in buildings and
arts, with -four, fat or milk, in
;reases the food value of the dish,
nasmuch as these materials supply
he proteine and the fat in which
ruit is Observation-Disclosures Guar.
iian.