Bran

Bran is the material obtained from the outer covering or husk of grain during the process of grinding, and which is separated from the finer flour before the latter is made into Bread (q.v.). It is generally met with in commerce in thin scaly yellowish-brown particles, with sharp edges, and its composition in 100 parts is as follows: Water, 14; fibrin, &c., 15; starch, 44; fat, 4; lignose and cellulose, 17; ash, 6. Bran contains a nitrogenous body called cerealin, which is capable of producing, by a process of fermentation, a chemical change in the starch, dextrin, &c. of flour. Bread made of flour containing bran is known as Brown Bread (see BREAD). The main uses to which bran is put are in the feeding of horses and cattle, and poultry, and in clearing and brightening goods during the processes of Dyeing and Calico-printing (q.v.). In the practice of medicine, bran is employed as a warm poultice in abdominal inflammation, spasms, &c., and an infusion is used as an emollient foot bath. It is also used internally in catarrhal affections.