NOTES 

53.

I  shall  also  give  occasional  lectures  at  Indiana,  North-Western  and
other  United  States  universities. 
end of  January.  During  July  I shall  work  \n  the  Archives  of  the
Augustinian  Order  and  the  S.  Congregatio  de  Propaganda  Fide  in  Rome,
concerning  missionary  activity  on  the  eastern  African  coast  during  the
seventeenth  century.

I shall  not  return  to  Ghana  until  the

G.S.P.  Freeman-Grenville.

RESEARCH  ON  YAMS

This  Department  has recently  initiated  an extensive  programme

of  research  on yams  (Diosconsg spp).  The  programme  is devoted  primarily
to  a  study of  biochemical'problems  associated with  the  deterioration  of
yams during  storage.  This  involves  major  economic  problems  in  many
West  African  countries,  as the  total  storage  losses throughout  the yam
zone  of  West Africa  have  beon estimated at  almost  a million  tons per  year.

Other  aspects  of  the  use of  the  yams as food  crops are  also
receiving  attention,  however,  especially  the  processing  involved  in
their  preparation  as food.  These  investigations  may  be  of  relevance
in  connection  with  the  possibility  of  developing  industries  to  manufacture
edible  yam  products  within  Ghana.  At  present,  however,  these  studies
are  confined  to  the  traditional  West  African  processing  methods.

The yams,  like  many  other  crops used primarily  for  local  food,
were  much neglected  by  research  workers  during  the  Colonial  Era,  and
a  large,  and,  it  is hoped,  fruitful  field  for  research  lies open.  The yams
are  of  particular  interest  in  the  West  African  matrix,  as they  are among
the  very  few  major  food  crops  indigenous  to  the  area,  and  it  appears  likely
that  their  cultivation  originated  in  Ghana  or  in  neighbouring  parts  of
Africa.  The writer  has already  spent  some years on work  with  the yams
in  other  parts of  Africa,  which  experience  should be of  service  in  the
current  research  programme.

Department  of  Biochemistry,  Nutrition  &  Food  Science.

D . G.  Coursey