The nature of carbohydrates in a dificult-milling and an easy-milling cultivar of red gram (Cajanus cajan L ) was studied. These two cultivars of red gram were milled to obtain cotyledon, intermediate fraction and husk, and various carbohydrate fractions were isolated from them and chemically characterised. The cotyledon was rich in starch and proteins and contained a water soluble polysaccharide mainly of arabinan type. The intermediate fraction had less starch than in the cotyledon and was rich in free sugars. Arabinogalactantype polysaccharides were characteristic of the intermediate fraction and were gummy and hygroscopic in nature. The alkali insoluble residue in the intermediate fraction was a complex of cellulose and non-cellulosic polysaccharides. The content of this fraction and also of the pectin was greater in the dificult-milling cultivar. The husk was rich in non-starchy polysaccharides and contained varying amounts of arabinose and xylose in most of the fractions. Both glucuronic acid and galacturonic acid were present in the husk, whereas the cotyledon and intermediate fraction contained galacturonic acid only.

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339The metabolism of nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus in undernourished children 6". The effect of partial or complete replacement of rice in poor vegetarian diets by kaffir corn (Sorghum vulgure)

5.*The food grains consumed widely in India are rice, wheat, jowar (Sorghum vulgare), ragi (Eleusine coracana) and pearl millet (Pennisetum typhoideum). T h e millets are consumed mainly by the low-income groups and ragi is the staple food of millions of people in Mysore State and the Deccan plateau of India. Ragi is unique among the cereal grains in being a rich source of calcium, containing about 0.33 % as compared with other common cereals whose calcium content ranges from 0.01 to 0.06%

Pearl millet is an important food grain consumed widely as a staple food by poor people in different parts of India (Patwardhan, I~S Z ) , but no metabolic studies have so far been reported with diets containing it. Further, in view of the acute shortage of rice in the country, the use of pearl millet as a partial substitute needs to be studied. This paper describes the results of investigations on the effect on the metabolism of nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus of replacing rice in a poor vegetarian diet partially or completely by pearl millet (Pennisetum typhoideum). E X P E R I M E N T A L