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Improving the Nutritive Value of Flour

III. The Use of Enriched and Non-Enriched Flour in Diets Similar to Those Consumed by Certain Low-Income Groups in South Carolina¹

Four Figures

Department of Foods and Nutrition, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Kansas State College, Manhattan

Combinations of foods similar to those consumed by human beings were fed to albino rats to determine the significance of the use of enriched flour in the diets. The results indicate that when 62% of the total calories were furnished by flour, the animals with enriched flour in the diet gained on the average 17 gm more during a 9-week growth period than did those on diets containing non-enriched flour. When 50% of the total calories were furnished by flour, the animals with enriched flour in the diet gained an average of 10 gm more than those receiving non-enriched flour. Even when salt mixture was added to increase the calcium content of the diet, or vitaminfree casein was added to increase the protein, or when both of these were added to the same diets, the rats receiving the enriched flour made the greater gains. The second generation animals showed a wider variation, as those fed enriched flour gained on the average 20 gm more than those with non-enriched flour in the diet.

The average weight gains made by the animals with 33 and 40% flour in the diet, respectively, showed no differences between those receiving enriched and non-enriched flour. The animals with 33% of the calories from enriched and non-enriched flour made better weight gains than those whose diets included flour at the 40% level. This was due probably to the added milk, meat, and vegetables in the former diet, which replaced the cereals.

The results indicate that when flour is consumed in large quantities the enriched product aids in promoting a better growth rate in rats than the non-enriched form.

² Some of the data of this paper were taken from a thesis submitted by this author to the Graduate School of Kansas State College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.

Manuscript received 21 February 1949.