THE USE OF GERMINATED PULSE AND BEANS IN THE NATURAL DIETARY OF

THE BURMESE.

By G. G. JOLLY, c.i.E., Major i.m.s.,

Office of the Director of Public Health, Burma.

When Miss Harriette Chick and Miss Mar-

garet Hume published their paper on " The Dis-

tribution among Foodstuffs of the Substances

required for the Prevention of Beriberi and

Scurvy," in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1917, they ascribed to Furst the credit of first advocat-

ing the use of germinated pulse as a food for the prevention of deficiency disease.

I have been unable to obtain a copy of Furst's

original paper, and do not know, therefore, whe- ther or not he claimed the credit of initiating the use of germinated pulse as a general article of diet, or as a preventive of deficiency disease.

Until quite recently I had never come across

the use of germinated pulse as a natural food- stuff, and I was surprised therefore to find it

exposed for sale in the bazaar at Insein, a town- ship about ten miles from Rangoon.

Further enquiries quickly revealed the fact that germinated pulse is on sale in the vegetable markets of Rangoon and throughout Burma, and is in general use as an article of diet.

1 propose to state what I have been able to as- certain about the common use of this foodstuff, and to describe the methods used to bring about germination and to prepare the food for con-

sumption. Germinated pulse is widely used by the Bur-

mese as a food. It is sold in all vegetable mar- kets and prepared by the housewife in most pri- vate houses, and is consumed by all classes of Burmese. It is an inexpensive food and is therefore readily procurable by the poor.

Various pulses are in use in different parts of the country and, practically speaking, any of the dais, beans, or peas may be prepared in this way, but certain species are considered better than others and are used for preference. These

species are:?

Pulses.

1. Phascolus mungo, variety radiatus (Linn). This is known in Burma as Pe-di, Pc-di-sein, or Pb-nank, and is the ordinary green Mung Dal of India. It is one of the pulses most widely used throughout Burma for germination, and is the

variety most highly appreciated.

256 THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE. [June, 1923.

2. Phaseolus mungo, proper (Linn). This is the common black Urad Dal of India. It is

cheaper than Mung Dal, and for that reason is

perhaps more extensively used among the poorer classes and sold to them in the bazaars. Its Burmese name is Mat-pe.

3. Phaseolus calcaratus (Roxb). This pulse, known in Burma as Pe-yin, is not so widely used for germination as either of the preceding varie- ties. It is, however, not infrequently employed and is cheaper than Mung. It is known in

parts of India as Bora.

Bbans.

1. Dolichos lablab (Linn) variety lignosus, (Prain).. This bean, which is highly esteemed as a garden crop throughout Burma, is often ger- minated and then lightly boiled. It is white in colour and is sometimes erroneously called the

Rangoon white bean. The Burmese name is

Pe-gy'i. 2. Phaseolus lunatus (Linn). This is the

Lima or Duffin Bean. The varieties of it, known as the Rangoon red bean and the Rangoon white bean, are much used for germination. Rangoon red bean is called Pe-gya in Burmese, and the white variety is known as Pe-byu-gale, and the favourite method of preparing both is first to

sprout the seed and then lightly boil or fry it. Methods of Germination.?The pulse or bean

is first washed, then fully immersed in water, and allowed to. soak for a time varying from twelve to twenty-four hours. Usually it is put into

jars or bowls in the afternoon or evening and taken out the following morning. It may then be treated in several ways.

1. Placed in baskets, through the openings of which excess water drains off, and covered with a layer of cloth. A shoot appears on the second

day and germination is allowed to continue for two or three days, according to the kind of pulse used and the size of shoot desired.

2. Put into porous pots, covered with cloth and allowed to germinate as in 1.

3. Spread in a thin layer on a mat, and cover- ed with a wet blanket or cloth which is kept damp.

4. Sprinkled on the surface of a bed of pre- pared earth or sand, which is kept wet by fre-

quent watering. In each case germination is stopped when the

young shoots are sufficiently developed. The Burman likes the radicle to be from an inch to

an inch and a half long, and the green leaves of the plumule to be visible projecting from between the cotyledons. The shoots are then thoroughly washed to free them from the husks, and pre- pared for the table.

Preparation for the Table.?The shoots may be eaten cooked or uncooked, and are prepared in a number of ways.

Uncooked.?Pickled Pc-di or Mung Dal is always used. The shoots after having been pre- pared by one or other of the methods described, are placed in a jar containing a solution of com- mon salt, and allowed to soak for four to six days

in either plain or rice water. By this time the shoots have shrunk in size, become crisp, and taste salt and sour. This is now eaten with

Ngapi and rice, or is taken in a dish called Lct- thok made with roasted sesamum, fried onions and oil.

' Cooked.?Boiled.?The shoots are boiled and eaten when soft with oil and salt. This is a

favourite early morning dish in Upper Burma. They may also be boiled with tamarind and form an ingredient of the dish Let-thok. Alternatively they may be made into soup (Hincho). Fried.?They are boiled till just soft, and then

fried in oil.

Curried.?Prepared in the same way as cur-

ried dal, or may form an ingredient of a vege- table curry. Roasted.?(Ahlaw).?The shoots are roasted

with salt.

Prepared in these various ways germinated pulse, or Pe-bin-pauk as the Burmese call it, is a dish of great importance in the Burman dietary. It is eaten by both sexes at all ages, and although I have been unable to ascertain that they attribute any special powers to it in the way of preventing or curing specific diseases, I have been told that it is particularly appreciated in the hot weather, when fresh vegetables are scarce, and am inform- ed by Major Hodgkinson Lack, i.m.s., that it is

prescribed by certain Tsay-saycis, the local practi- tioners of Burmese indigenous medicine, in the treatment of digestive troubles. An interesting speculation is whether germinat-

ed pulse is an original article of food of the Burmese, or was introduced from China. It is much used by the Chinese in Burma, and many of those who make and sell it in the bazaars of

Rangoon and other large towns are Chinese. Dr. Peters, of the China Health Educational Council, tells me that it is widely used throughout China. Judging from its very extensive use

among the Burmese all over Burma, its intro-

duction, if it was introduced, is not of recent

occurrence.

I have never personally come across germinated pulse as a natural article of diet in India or among the tribes of Central or East Africa, but Major Tarapore, i.m.s., tells me that he knows of its use among Parsees in Bombay, and I understand that there is a grain known as Kamboo in Tamil, grown in the Madras Presidency, which is pre- pared by germination and eaten raw with salt or sugar. The question of the inclusion of germinated

pulse in the dietary of sailors and soldiers, police and other bodies of public servants in receipt of rations, and in institutions, such as hospitals, jails, schools, and asylums is, in my opinion, one of considerable importance. We know that the various deficiency diseases are particularly apt to occur among these several groups of persons, and we know that in germinated pulse we have a useful and inexpensive supply of vitamines B and C. The question is not one of urging the adop- tion of an experimental and possibly unpalatable

June, 1923.] VALUE OF ESSENTIAL OILS IN CHOLERA: TOMB. 257

foodstuff. Germinated pulse is already used

by at least two nations, who relish it as a highly palatable, nutritious, and inexpensive food, and

there is no reason why the use of this preparation should not he made much more extensive than it

is. In certain jails in Burma it is now in regular use, and its introduction has been greatly appre- ciated by the prisoners. It is to be hoped that before long it will be incorporated in the ration of

all prisoners in jails and lock-ups in Burma, and I would suggest that those in charge of similar

institutions in other provinces of India might with advantage include germinated dal in their

ration tables, particularly during the hot weather when, as I know from personal experience of jail work, the diet is apt to he unappetising on ac-

count of the seasonal scarcity of vegetables. In

such circumstances germinated dal. prepared in

one or other of the ways I have described, pro- vides a welcome and important varition in the

diet, and helps to maintain the supply of the anti- scorbutic factor. Bv causing pulse to germinate the grain is

softened and requires much less cooking than when dry, and in this way we effect an economy in the content of the anti-beriberi factor, part of

which is destroyed in the ordinary process of

cooking dal. In conclusion I would advise any one desirous

of including germinated dal, beans, or peas in the rations of those under his charge to experiment with the various different varieties he can obtain, as he will find considerable variations in the rate of germination, the percentage of seeds which

fail to germinate, and in the taste and palatabilitv of the resulting product. It is necessary that the

supply of pulse be fresh, otherwise a large per- centage of the grains will fail to germinate and the result will lie a mixture of hard and soft

seeds which it is impossible to cook properly.