Nelson Evening Mail TUESDAY, JULY 12, 1921 FOOD FACTORS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIV, 12 July 1921, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail TUESDAY, JULY 12, 1921 FOOD FACTORS

THE hitherto unidentified accessory factors in food, the so-called vitamines, though required in minute quantities, are nevertheless indispensable for the growth and proper maintenance of man and the domestic animals. With regard to human requirements, a sufficiently varied diet, nob over-cooked, is unlikely to be deficient in any of them. Two vitamines, as, was stated in a previous article, are especially concerned with growth, and a third is the anti-scorbutic or antiscurvy vitamine. The anti-beribori factor is so stable as not to be affected by storage or hy ordinary cooking operations. The anti-raobitic or anti-rickets factor, on the other hand, may be completely destroyed by prolonged boiling, as in the case of milk or stews, or by wrong methods of canning meats and vegetables. In military and institutional experience,

outbreaks of scurvy have been traced to continual over-cooking of an otherwise adequate vegetable and moat ration. Over-cooking and ‘‘keeping hot” should be avoided, especially in the case of fruit and vegetables. Green vegetables .should he cooked in an open vessel until just tender. 'This may be done in fast-boiling water, or by steaming over water. By the former method a bettor colour is obtained, but with it then' is more loss owing to exudations from the vegetable into the water. Neither acid nor alkali should be added to the water, but salt may be used, as it does not appear to cause increased destruction of the vitamincs. Vegetables such as carrots and potatoes are not highly anti-soorhutic in value, hut they may form a valuable part of the diet as a source of anti-scor-butic vitamine, and, iu the case of the carrot, also of the fat-soluble or growth-promoting vitamine. With

peas, beans, and louLils, the germimition or sprouting oi’ the seeds is a good alternative to id)t‘ nso of bicarbonate of soda to soften thorn. Jheso pulses are valuable for their starch and protein content as 'veil < r is for their considerable, anti-neuritic value. In germination other vitaminos develop, especially the anti-scorbutic. To cause germination, all that is. necessary Is to soak the seeds overnight, and then, after rinsing them, keep them in a" damp slate tor two days longer in a clean, ventilated container, sue has a perforated tin or a flower-pot. Lack of vitanvines is a cause of disease in live stock, though this may not he so common in New Zealand as in some other countries. Investigations made by Sir Arnold Theiler in South Africa, have enabled him to announce a chain of six links which is requisite for the establishment in live stock of a class of disease due to lack of vitaminos. In So'uth Australia some ten years ago diet deficiency diseases seemed to be threatening tlio cattle industry of that State, at least as far as dairy stock was concerned’ To-day, instead of buying drugs that often proved ineffectual, the owner finds a sure remedy in the providing of a balanced ration. It has been observed, for example, that largo and repeated doses of milk bare a marked benefit when they are given to cattle which are suffering from diet deficiency diseases and Bacterial invasions may to a large extent be averted if vitaminos exist in the required quantities and of the right quality in an animal’s diet. The administration of milk, especially during the growing period, is a simple and effective way of ensuring this. Increasing attention is being given to the by vitaminos in the maintenance of health in both human beings and the domestic animals, and the sum of our knowledge of the subject is . being increased.