The Hawaiian gazette., 1914-04-28
BIG TASK IS
FINISHED BY
WOMAN
Miss Alice R. Thompson Of Ha
wall Experiment Station .oom
pletes Analyses Of All cnltiyat
ed and Native Fruit Product
Of Islands Results Of Hel
Work soohjto Be Published n
Bulletin Form.

Miss Alice R. Thompson, assistan
chemist Of the Hawaii Experimen
Station has completed the chemical
analyses Of all the tropical, cultivate,
and native fruits grown in the Islands
This material which represents ind
work of more than six years, is to bd
published shortly in. bulletin fo,mI
Work Of this character has never beer
carried out before IN so extensive oll
comprehensive n scale. Some fruit,
have been analysed many times by
other chemists Also, some OF thu
varieties show perhaps only a singldl
analysis made in some out Of the way
laboratory many years ago. This will
be the first publication ever attemptetI|
where the whole varied list of tropical
fruits has been carried through the
complete analysis to show their nntril|
tive properties, mineral constitueutsl
and the peculiar acids, sugars and es1
sential oils that make. for palatability|
and flavor.
Phytin Subject Of Study.
Another line Of investigation being
conducted in the chemical laboratory
Of the experiment station is a study OF
phytin. Phytin is; a phosphoric acid
compound which is present in rice.
bran and rice polish. The doctors
who have studied beri-beri, the drop
steal disease which is so prevalent
among all the rice-eating races of the
Orient from Japan to India, have long
since determined that the disease Il
caused by people living entirely on
food that is deficient in phosphates
Most of the riee.eaters of the world \
use polished rice as their main STAFF of
life, and beri-beri seems to be confined
almost exclusively to the rice eaters.
The scientists discovered that the dis.
ease does not afhict those races who
eat rice that is Sin the brown that
is, rice that has Ind the outer hull re-
moved but is unpublished. This seemed
to prove q clear case against polished
ride, so the chemists set about to dis
cover inst exactly what IL was that
polished rice lacked. They proved
that most OF the phosphorus content
of the rice grain goes Off in the polish.
Next they started to find out what
compound had the phosphorus tied up
IN ibo anu liONEu Ahtt ~
was almost all in the phytin. There
upon the scientific world assumed that
phytin would cure beri-beri,
Theory Proves Defective.
The doctors accepted the verdict of
the chemists and tried the remedy, but
the anticipated cures did not eventuate.
Then they tackled the problem from tbs
purely medical standpoint. Announce
ment has recently been made that an
extract Of rice polish given to
beri-beri patients wiz cnre the disease,
The doctors also discovered that a
hydrolyzed alcoholic extract of rice
polish given TO patients in the early
stages Of beri-beri constituted an ant
1ote for the disease. A 'bydrolyZed' 2 4
extract ~ simply mn alcoholic extract
treated with sulpburic or other mineral
acid
Referred Back TO Chemists.
This discovery by the doctors threw
the problem back into the domain Of
the chemists The chemists Of the Ha-
wall experiment station are now work
ing ia conjunction with experts in
many other laboratories, in japan, In
dia and other countries where rice IL
eaten and beri-beri occurs, TO find out
for the doctors exactly what organic
compound IL Is in the rice bran or rice
polish the absence Of which causes tbs
disturbance OF the human
system known,as beri-beri.