Page:Foods and their adulteration; origin, manufacture, and composition of food products; description of common adulterations, food standards, and national food laws and regulations (IA foodstheiradulte02wile).pdf/338

 (17 varieties). (21 varieties).

Water,        69.00 percent       70.27 percent Ash,           1.15    "           1.14    " Protein,       2.08    "           2.41    " Fat,           1.00    "           0.99    " Total sugars,  5.55    "           6.81    " Starch, etc., 24.23    "          24.00    " Crude fiber,   2.62    "           1.26    "

Included in the starch of the above data are the substances soluble in boiling dilute acid and alkali.

Turnip.—The botanical name of the turnip is Brassica napus L. The French name is navet; German, Herbst-Rübe; Italian, navone; Spanish, nabo.

The turnip is grown very largely in the United States both as a vegetable and as a field crop for feeding purposes. The turnip used as a vegetable usually has a spherical bulb. It is a crop that grows late in the autumn. In the central part of the country it is usually sown as a field crop after the harvesting of some of the early crops as, for instance, early potatoes, and is ready for harvest late in the autumn, just before freezing weather begins. Grown as a vegetable, however, it is grown early as well as late. It has a spicy, pungent taste which makes it extremely palatable. It is sometimes eaten raw, but generally stewed.

Composition.—

Water,               90.46 percent Ash,                   .80    " Protein,               1.14    " Fiber,                1.15    " Sugar, starch, etc.,   6.27    " Fat,                   .18    "

The above data show that the turnip is not a very nutritious vegetable and that its chief nutrients are carbohydrates.

Yam.—Another variety of edible root or substance belonging to the sweet potato class is known as the yam. It is also, like the sweet potato, particularly suited to growing in the subtropical or warm climates. The name yam properly belongs to a tropical root similar in appearance to the sweet potato but produced by various species of vines of the genus Dioscorea, not belonging even to the same family as the sweet potato. In the southern United States, however, the name yam is applied to certain varieties of the sweet potato with large coarse stems. It is cultivated extensively in the southern part of the United States, and is valued both as a food for man and specially for domesticated animals. The character of the soil, method of planting, and cultivation are the same as in the case of the sweet potato. It is particularly valued for fattening the variety of swine so common in the-