By ARTHUR ATKINS.
There seems to have sprung up within a few mouths a tendency to revive
the discussion on that hackneyed question, "Shall the germ be retained
in the flour?" This question has been more than once answered in the
negative by both scientific and practical men, but recently certain
prominent persons have come to the conclusion that every one has been
wrong on this point, and the miller should by all means retain the germ.
Now the nutritive value of the germ cannot be disputed, but there are
two circumstances which condemn it us an ingredient of flour. The first
is that the albuminoids which it contains are largely soluble, and this
means that good light bread from germy flour is impossible. I have not
time to go into a detailed explanation of the chemical reasons for this,
but they may be found in a series of articles which appeared in _The
Milling World_ about a year ago. In the next place, the oil contained in
the germ not only discolors the flour, but seriously interferes with its
keeping qualities. Now color is only a matter of taste, and if that were
the only objection to the germ, it might be admitted, but we certainly
do not want anything in our flour to interfere with making light, sweet
bread, and will render it more liable to spoil. If our scientists can
discover some method of obviating these objections, it will then be time
enough to talk about retaining the germ. Meanwhile millers know that
germy flour is low priced flour, and they are not very likely to reduce
their profits by retaining the germ.--_Milling World._
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