Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-06-19
atlistellaneous Rsading.
COTTON SEED MEAL
A Renewed Boost for Its Use as HUI
man Food Product.

Ever since the eNOlutlOH OIL mOueIIi
breakfast foods there has occasional
ly arisen some cynic to accuse us of
'robbing the horse of his dinner"
Now it appears by a suggestion in the
semi official American Food Journal
that cotton seed meal is coming into
new degree of appreciation as a
desirable and wholesome human food.
and. if all that is claimed for it be
true. it is a matter of great economic
importance.
Cotton seed meal is universally used
as n food for stock, especially cattle,
and the hulls sell for $12 to SIS n
ton. Taken together, the products of
The once despised cotton seed form
one Of the most important sources of
wealth of the south 1t is even claim
ed that cotton can be proftably
grown for the seed alone.
Cotton seed meal has been used as a
human food to some extent for a
number of years in Texas and other
southern states. It's use is not con-
fined to those classes who are too
poor TO buy wheat. G. \. Bumgar-
ten of Schulenberg, Texas, makes
bread out of wheat flour and cotton
seed meal and has been using it in
his home for a number Of years. The
bakery of Mrs. McCarty in Ennis.
Texas, has featured cotton seed meal
bakery products and cotton seed flour
has been extensively advertised by j..
w. Allison of the same place.
Cotton seed meal contains a larger
percentage of protein-the principal
constituent Of meal-than any other
vegetable product grown. Cotton
seed flour, the name under which cot
ton seed meal is sold for human con-
sumption, is choice meal practically
free from hulls and is an almost i'm
palpable powder. Cotton seed flour
sold by Mr.. Raumgarten is put through
Il roller mill. 1t is bright yellow in
color free from any trace or rancidity
and possessing a sweet odor.
Cotton seed flour contains about
four times as much protein-fiesh
forming food-as eggs and three times
us much as beef loin. 1t is richer in
protein than any other food product.
However, it is undesirable and unsafe
10 use cotton seed meal fer human
food without dilution of some sort, and
t is best used in a mixture with corn
meal or wheat flour.
Digestion experiments with men, re-
Gently made by the writer, and report
ed in bulletin 163, OF the Texas agri-
cultural experiment station, show that
the protein of cotton seed meal and
-four is equally as digestible as that of
peas and beans, nine-tenths as digest
ihle as that of wheat and other cereals
and eight -tenths as digestible as that
of meat The digestibilty Of the fat
is very high, but that of the carbohy-
drates is low.
These are the first experiments on
record in which human beings were
used in digestion trials with cotton
seed meal The three subjects lived
six days each on a diet Of cotton seed
meal-corn bread, milk and butter, and
the results show that none of them
lost an ounce of flesh during the eX
pertinent.
Cotton seed meal food products
made from one part cotton seed meal
or flour to four parts wheat flour con-
tain from one-third less to one-half
more digestible flesh forming nutrients
than eggs.
Studies were made to determine the
palatability of cotton seed meal food
products 1t was found that breads
and cakes made of one part cotton
seed meal or flour are equally as pal
atable as straight corn meal or wheat
flour food products. In the palatabil-
ity test all Of the cooked products
were eaten and relished by three
year old child, who has never yet
failed to make it known when he dis
liked any article of food offered him.
Since he could not have had any pre-
conceived ideas about cotton seed
meal as n human food, this evidence
is OF some value.
\ spiced cake made with cotton
seed meal could be eaten by the most
critical, and he would never know he
was eating that cattle food" unless
he were told. Biscuit, mullins, bread
1, ,1,,, 10
seed meal mixtures have slightly
changed flavor. which is not at all dis
agreeable None of the cotton seed
meal food products cooked for the
writer and eaten by him daily for two
weeks had the slightest cotton seed
meal flavor.
Compared with the cost of nutrients
in meat and eggs, cotton seed meal is
both relatively and actually, enormous
ly cheaper than those more commonly
used foods. Cotton seed meal costs
$32 per ton. Assuming a loss Of one
| third in sitting with cotton seed flour
| there is no loss in sifting) the cost of
Il pound of digestibe protein would
| be five cents. The cost per pound of
protein in eggs and round steak at the
moderate prices of zoe per dozen and
sc per pound. would be $1.O6. and
73 cents respectively. \ pound Of di-
gestible protein is 21 times as expen-
sive in eggs and Is times as expen-
sive in meat as it is in cotton seed
meal.
The high cost Of nutrients in ami
nal foods will not prevent people from
buying and eating them even when
such a cheap substitute is available.
The best we can expect, and all we
should expect, in the present state of
knowledge concerning the use of cot
ton seed meal as a human food is that
| cotton seed meal can be used as q
| partial substitute for meat.
The application of ordinary cooking
recipes to the mixture of cotton seed
meal and corn meal or wheat flour,
was tested. one Of the tested recipes
is given below:
Cotton Seed Meal Corn Cakes-COt-
ton seed meal, l-3 cup: corn meal, ]