Evening star., 1938-10-27
HAIR YIELDS ODD
DIETARY RESIDUE
Slow Boiling for 5 Years
Opens New Path for
Biological Research.
By THOMAS Il. HENRY,
Star Staff CORRESPONDENT.


Star stat1 Correspondent.
CHAPEL HILL, N. c., Oct. 27.-Con-
version of about rs per cent of the con-
tents of human hair into digestible
protein by boiling" it at room tenn
perature for nearly five years has been
accomplished by Dr. James c. Andrews,
biochemist of the University Of North
Carolina School of Medicine.
The new protein, or protein mixture,
appears to have a higher content of
sulphur than anything hitherto known,
and it presumably could be used as a
human food, but its medicinal dietary
possibilities have not been explored
The experiments resulting in this
substance were described by Dr. An
drews in an interview following his re-
port to the National Academy of Sci
ences meeting here, of technical details
of sulphur containing biological sub
stances. Human hair, obtained chiefly
from the sWeepings of barber shops,
long has been the chief source of the
amino acid cystein. This has a high
sulphur content, is obtained in suffi-
cient quantities in any normal diet,
and is absolutely essential to growth
of the animal body 1t can be re-
placed in diet only by closely related
amino acid, methionine.
Digestion Releases Cystein.
In the process of digestion, cystein
is released from various proteins, the
nltrogen-c n-containmg components of
food, by means of various engines
present in the digestive tract. Aside
from its growth-promoting function, it
enters chiefly into the makeup of hair
and the finger and toenails, the bodys
chief sulphur ur-containing organs. Pure
cysteln has some use in medicine 1t
is obtained by boiling masses of hair
IN hydrochlorlc acid at high tempera-
ture for few hours, after which small
quantities of the amino acid are readily
separated from the mash"
Hair and nails are exceptional from
the fact that they cannot be digested
IN the stomach. The former, when
swallowed, has tendency to form
ball IN the intestines Veterinarians
o1ten are called to treat long-haired
cats which have ingested wads of
har while tapping their fur, and the
cond!tlon soon proves fatal unless the
Wad can be gotten out of the stomach.
BOILING in acid, Dr. Andrews ex-
planned, is relative process. The
hlgher the temperature the faster it
proceeds, but it can be made to 20 on
very slowly at low temperatures. He
tired boiling the barber shop hair first
at body temperature of about SO de.
grees F, and then at room temperature
OF about 70 F. A similar end product
was obtained in both cases. but it re-
qulred almost two years to complete the
JOB at body temperature and about five
years at room temperature At the end
all the interior Of the hairs seemed to
nave been boiled out, leaving very brit
tie, hollow shells.
Remarkable Mixture Results.
When the hydrochloric acid was
separated from the residue, he found
by chemical tests that he had a re-
markable "proteose-peptone" mixture.
Proteoses and peptones are the SUBJ
When subjected to the various digestive
juices before the final breakdown into
ammo acids which are the building
brlcks OF the body. 1t was found that
ABOUT 40 per cent of the total nitrogen
IN the mixture was in digestible form.
He then subjected the mixture to the
actlon OF trypsln, one of the engines
IN the stomach which is principle
agent IN breaking up the protein con-
stltuents into the simpler amino acids
OF which the body can make use. He
found that 1t was rather easily di-
gestlole, in striking contrast to the
halr OF which it formed the chief con-
stituent and against which the trypsin
had no observable action whatsoever.
The constituent amino acids were re-
leased by this process, just as they
would have been in the animal
stomach.
The sulphur content of the mixture
averaged more than five per cent, by
lar the highest sulphur content on rec
ord for any protein which is soluble
and dlsestible, DR.. Andrews says. The
SieHllcdl structure OF the complex re-
mains fairly constant, he found, for
different lots of hair.
DR.. Andrews is not proposing, he
stressed, that anybody start making
breakfast food out of hair or that res
taurants add hair steaks" to their
menus. For one thing the new "eat-
able hair would be a rather nauseat-
ing mess and for another it would be
incredibly expensive because of the
long time required in the boiling
process. There is possibility. how
ever. OF exploring it's potentialities for
persons with hulphur deficient systems
Glass Hastens Process.
DR.. Andrews found that at various
temperatures the process of extracting
this substance by boiling was greatly
hastened by the glass walls of the con-
tainer acting as a chemical catalyst
and that it could be speeded up by
adding glass wool to the boiling mix
ture. In some cases the speed could be
nearly doubled
When the IS per cent digestible