Food and Nutrition in Choshu-Han in 1840s

-Through the Analysis of “Bocho Fudo Chushin-An”-

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to make a quantitative study of local food and nutrition in Edo Period, based on a data base processed from “Bocho Fudo Chushin-an” (a geographical description and local history of Chasha-han compiled in 1840s). The average individual food supply (per capita per day) was estimated by dividing total food production estimated in the previous studies by population (523, 000) and further divided by the number of days per year (365). The individual nutrition supply was estimated in reference to Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan (third edition).
The daily food supply of individual can be summarized as follows : cereals, 465.1 g; sweet potatoes and starch, 71.9 g; nuts and seeds, 0.6 g; pulses, 22.6 g; fishes and shellfishes, 12.5 g; meat, 3.7 g; eggs, 0.1 g; vegetables, 179.5 g; fruits, 8.1 g; fungi, 0.2 g; algae, 1.0 g and beverages, 95 ml. This result shows that people in those days lived on rice and barley.
The daily nutrition supply of individual was 1, 861 kcal of energy, 52.4 g of protein, 11.3 g of lipid, 284 mg of calcium, 10 mg of iron, 1, 603 I.U. of retional potency, 1.62 mg of thiamin, 0.66 mg of riboflavin and 100 mg of ascorbic acid. Cereals formed 86.4% of total energy, and lipid 5.5%. Animal protein was only 5.7% of total protein supply. It was clarified that their living depended chiefly on cereals.