Tue, 16 Nov 2004 17:24:44 GMT Christopher Green wrote:
(big snip)


No, commercial locust bean gum comes from carob (Ceratonia siliqua).
Honey locust pods are edible, but to my knowledge are not used
commercially, as carob is of higher quality and long cultivated for
this and other purposes.

I could have sworn for sure that it was Locust trees that provided the commercial
bean gum used for food additive. That would be an embarrassing moment if I
turned up at a Farm Mill with a truckload of honeylocust beans to sell into the
Commodities Market.



Another question: Oak acorns I believe were used as a substitute for wheat flour to make bread in the old pioneer days. But I
wonder if eating oak acorns is unhealthy due to the tannins. Has anyone measured the relative food value of oak acorns to that of
wheat?

Lots of people. Pioneers learned to prepare acorns from the Indians,
who had lived on acorns for thousands of years. Probably the greatest
authority on the subject of acorns as food is Julia Parker; see Ortiz
and Parker, "It Will Live Forever: Traditional Yosemite Indian Acorn
Preparation" (Heyday Books).

Acorns from low-tannin species of oak are more palatable, but all
acorns need to be leached to extract tannins.

Acorns are rich and nutritious food, even if impressively bland; acorn
flour runs about 500 calories/100 grams, largely carbohydrate and
(mostly unsaturated) fat but also some protein (incomplete: it's short
on tryptophan, a common fault of plant protein sources).

Curious question. Does wheat lack tryptophan? Does honeylocust beans
possess tryptophan?

In a sense, modern society is based on wheat, potatoes, rice, corn et al. But I wonder if oak acorns and honeylocust can become one
of the basis points.

Some of the Indians relyed heavily on oak acorns but I wonder if acorns can become what wheat has become.

Just read in the news today about an estimate that 10,000 species are nearing extinction due to human overpopulation coupled with
global warming. Not only is global warming accelerating but I would then guess that species extinctions are accelerating. One of the
species mentioned on the list was "fir trees". I wonder if oak trees due to diseases is on that list.

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