Contributions to the physiology of digestion and to dietetics.
- William George Aitchison Robertson
- Date:
- 1903
Licence: In copyright
Credit: Contributions to the physiology of digestion and to dietetics. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![This food does not differ from the preceding except that appar- ently whole meal has been used instead of flour. 11. A Malted Food (H. M. F.).—This is agranular, gritty yellow powder, having a sweet milky taste. It is prepared simply by dissolving in hot water. The amount of the powder used is regulated by the age and condition of the child. (1.) Five per cent, solution made with warm water. Alkaline reaction. There is no unchanged or soluble starch, and no erythro- dextrin. No precipitate is formed on adding acetic acid. Glucose amounts to 2325 per cent, of the food. (2.) Part of this solution kept at 100° F. for thirty minutes showed an increase of the glucose to 25 per cent. (3.) Acidified and heated for two hours. Glucose forms 31'25 per cent. This preparation is said to consist of desiccated cows' milk, malted flour, and alkaline carbonates to neutralize the acidity of the milk. It contains no starch or early-formed dextrins. It has been almost completely malted already. Tlie length of time it is heated by itself increases but little the amount of sugar. The increase in reducing substance by the prolonged heating with acidification is not likely due to added cane sugar, but most probably to the more complete conversion of some of the higher dextrins (achroodextrins) into reducing dextrins and sugars. This preparation contains, therefore, dextrins, maltose, glucose, albuminous materials, and mineral salts. 12. A Patent Cooked Food for Infants (E. F.) — This is a cream-coloured powder, looking and tasting like heated flour. Directions: Mix the food with water or milk to form a cream; add hot water or milk, stirring briskly while boiling. It is then ready. (1.) Prepared with cold water it has a faint acidity, and consists of unchanged starch with no sugar. (2.) Prepared according to directions, but not boiled, only kept at 120° F. for thirty minutes. It gives only unchanged starch reaction, along with the faintest trace of reducing sugar. (3.) Prepared by boiling—starch alone is present; no sugar. Even if kept for thirty minutes at 120°, no further change results. (4.) Acidified and heated at 140° F. for two hours, a large amount of erythrodextrin is present, along with soluble and unchanged starch. Glucose forms 5'4 per cent, of the food. Tlii.'j food contains apparently only flour; and if prepared according to the directions, we only get a paste containing no dextrins nor sugar. At best the starch is only present in its soluble form. ]?roIonged heating after acidification converts a](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b23984077_0065.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
