Atwater Bomb Calorimeter1 • A weighed amount
of the food to be tested is burned in the small cen¬
tral capsule. The heat given off is absorbed by
the water surrounding the bomb. The volume of
water being known, the calories given off can be
calculated from the increase in its temperature
^rom H. C. Sherman: Chemistry of Food and
Nutrition. 4th Ed. Copyright, 1932 by the Mac¬
millan Company and used with their permission.
Organic Foods. Before the knowledge of
chemistry had developed to its present level,
materials were divided into organic and in¬
organic on the basis of whether or not they
were products of living organisms. Organic
substances then were available only as the
result of plant or animal life. Now many
organic substances can be synthesized in the
laboratory, so that the old definition has lost
its significance. But all organic materials
contain carbon in a form that will burn.
Under suitable conditions this carbon unites
with oxygen, or is oxidized, and in the process
releases energy. In nature the reduction of
carbon, changing from an oxidized form
(carbon dioxide) to the unoxidized forms
present in organic compounds, is accom¬
plished by the activity of a plant cell.
Plants build energy into foods. Plants
are able to take inorganic compounds like
carbon dioxide (oxidized carbon) from the
air, and water and soluble minerals from the
soil, and combine these to form organic foods.
The energy required to make this change
comes from the sun. Green plants use en¬
ergy from the sun to manufacture organic
material from the simple inorganic com¬
pounds that they have absorbed. This proc¬
ess is known as " photosynthesis.” In the
plant, carbon dioxide and water are com¬
bined to form sugar. Oxygen is given off.
The chemical change is shown by the fol¬
lowing equation:
6 CO2 “b 6 H2O = C6Hi2Og T- 6 O2
Carbon + water = simple sugar + oxygen
dioxide
Plants store food to carry them through
periods of inactivity, as starch in the potato
or sugar in the beet. Starch, fats, and pro¬
teins are stored in the seed for the develop¬
ment of a new plant. The energy value of
any individual plant or part of a plant de¬
pends largely upon the amount of such
stored material present. The body substance
and stored materials of plants are used as
[10]
food. When this material is burned in the
body, the energy originally built in it is made
available. This energy is used to keep the
body warm, to perform muscular work, or to
furnish energy for building organic com¬
pounds essential in the body structure. Any
excess energy may be stored as fat.
Plants are transformers of energy. Food
may be looked upon as a form of energy
available for human use. In nature much
energy goes to waste because it is not in a
form in which it can be used. The question
of the human food supply becomes essen¬
tially a question of harnessing or catching
energy from the sun, which otherwise would
not be used, and transforming it into an
available form. A large amount of energy is
radiated from the sun. This cannot be used
directly as a source of body energy. Just as
the energy of the falling water must be trans¬
formed before it becomes available for use,
so the plant must absorb energy from the sun
and use it in building organic foods before
the energy becomes available for human or
animal use.
Page 8
Presented as published in 1935. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Atwater Bomb Calorimeter1 • A weighed amount of the food to be tested is burned in the small cen¬ tral capsule. The heat given off is absorbed by the water surrounding the bomb. The volume of water being known, the calories given off can be calculated from the increase in its temperature
From H. C. Sherman: Chemistry of Food and Nutrition. 4th Ed. Copyright, 1932 by the Mac¬ millan Company and used with their permission.
Organic Foods. Before the knowledge of chemistry had developed to its present level, materials were divided into organic and in¬ organic on the basis of whether or not they were products of living organisms. Organic substances then were available only as the result of plant or animal life. Now many organic substances can be synthesized in the laboratory, so that the old definition has lost its significance. But all organic materials contain carbon in a form that will burn. Under suitable conditions this carbon unites with oxygen, or is oxidized, and in the process releases energy. In nature the reduction of carbon, changing from an oxidized form (carbon dioxide) to the unoxidized forms present in organic compounds, is accom¬ plished by the activity of a plant cell.
Plants build energy into foods. Plants are able to take inorganic compounds like carbon dioxide (oxidized carbon) from the air, and water and soluble minerals from the soil, and combine these to form organic foods. The energy required to make this change comes from the sun. Green plants use en¬ ergy from the sun to manufacture organic material from the simple inorganic com¬ pounds that they have absorbed. This proc¬ ess is known as " photosynthesis.” In the plant, carbon dioxide and water are com¬ bined to form sugar. Oxygen is given off. The chemical change is shown by the fol¬ lowing equation:
6 CO2 “b 6 H2O = C6Hi2Og T- 6 O2
Carbon + water = simple sugar + oxygen
dioxide
Plants store food to carry them through periods of inactivity, as starch in the potato or sugar in the beet. Starch, fats, and pro¬ teins are stored in the seed for the develop¬ ment of a new plant. The energy value of any individual plant or part of a plant de¬ pends largely upon the amount of such stored material present. The body substance and stored materials of plants are used as
[10]
food. When this material is burned in the body, the energy originally built in it is made available. This energy is used to keep the body warm, to perform muscular work, or to furnish energy for building organic com¬ pounds essential in the body structure. Any excess energy may be stored as fat.
Plants are transformers of energy. Food may be looked upon as a form of energy available for human use. In nature much energy goes to waste because it is not in a form in which it can be used. The question of the human food supply becomes essen¬ tially a question of harnessing or catching energy from the sun, which otherwise would not be used, and transforming it into an available form. A large amount of energy is radiated from the sun. This cannot be used directly as a source of body energy. Just as the energy of the falling water must be trans¬ formed before it becomes available for use, so the plant must absorb energy from the sun and use it in building organic foods before the energy becomes available for human or animal use.