The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1915-11-19
SCIENCE
HELPS THE GAMERS
Department Of Agriculture at
Washington Adds New Light
On Preserving Methods

H. " NOTC, VI the department OF az
riculture at Washington, has conducted
a series of Investigations on methods
of PREPARATION of fruit juices to retain
their natural color and flavor. In bull
lctin No. PAL, recently issued, he CLASH.
fes the pineapple as one of the fruits
in which both color and flavor are in.
| juTed by heat.
Pineapple juice, he says, must be cx-
pressed from the uncOok ed fruit Flavor
and color may be retained by cold stor-
age, or by carEonating. Carbon dioxide
storilizes the julce. Pineapple juice
did not darken In color when heated in
vacuum without access Of oxygen.
Gore states that when sterilized by
and subsequently kept in carbon diox.
ide the distinctive color of pineapple
juice remained practically unchanged.
When exposed to atmospheric oxygen
at juice surfaces during and after ster.
| ilization marked darkening. occurred.
Change in color was also greatly
not wholly retarded by keeping the
juice in cold storage at from thirty-two
to thirtyfve degrees Fahrenheit! On
keeping the Juice at ordinary temper
atures the distinctive pineapple flavor
gradually lessened, though the juices
remained recognizable as pineapple. BY
| keeping in cold storage from thirty
two to thirty-ive degrees Fahrenheit,
change was almost wholly prevented "
! May Change Gamers Methods
Other chemists have found that the
sugars in the pineapple fruit and juice
I dccompOs" when heated with oxygen,
as in boiling in contact with air, form
ing acetir and butyric acid. When
butyric acid forms, the preserved fruit
or juice acquires an unpleasant taste
and odOr which seriously interiors with
marketing the product.
This scientific discovery that cold
caTbOnic acid gas is a better sterlizing
and preserving medium for the pine
! apple than dry steam or heat, may re-
suit in fundamental changes in pack:
ing house methods. Sterilization or IRE
scrvation by cold alone would probably
not be practicable, for it would require
cold storage shipping chambers, and
rcfig ration at all distribution cen
tcrs. Under this method canned pine
| apples would have to be kept on lee
and sold direct from the refrigeration
chaml err, like fresh oysters are handled
by the Wholesale and retail trade. How
ever, it has been proved that the fri it
can be handled that way, and at thirty
two degrees Fahrenheit will remain
fresh almost indefinitely.
Sterilization without Heat
The other method. of strriI Zing with
rarbonir acid gas without cooking tn"
fruit and juice aud holding it in an 1T
mosph"rc of carbOnic acid within III"
can or bottle, has commercial pussibili
Il -.
this method be delivered to tn" con
sumner in condition very like that in
which it is harvested. The pro IN he g
would probably be the mechanical one
Of dCvising a cOntaincr which could hc
scaled in an atmosphere Of rarh0nlc
! acid gas without any air getting IN.
The business Of canning pincapPIcs is
comparatively new the world over
Heretofore the industry has to owed
methods that were ideal for other
fruits, but some have not proved sat
iStactory with the one in haud Both
methods and machinery now used in
packing pineapples have been largely
adapted from other branches Of the
fruit canning trade, without much in
quiry AS to whether pines work up the
same AS other fruits. The occasional
drtcriOratrd product has emphasized
the point that the pinearpIH has char
artoriStirs of it's own that d,il"tcntlate
it from Othcr fruits.
Pines Are Different
MANY fruits continue to prOduce Su-
gar and flavor during the ripcmImg pro
cess. Some fruits will ripen almost as
well after being harvested as they
! nj 10 Fall a.
plant. The pineapple is apparently not
in this class. Picked green, it changes
in color and looks ripe, hut continues
to taste under'ripe. Hence, pineapple les
that have become fully ripe before be,
ing harvested are better eating in tn"
can, or as fresh fruit than those which
have been harvested too green The
underrjpe fruit does not get any
swcoter after it is harvested.
Hawaiian Pineapples Best
Right here rests the acknowledged
superiority of Hawaiian canned pine
apples. They are harvested dead ripe
and are preserved in their most luscious
condition. But if there are better ways
Of getting the dead-ripe, juicy and-frag
rant pineapple into consumer + hands
in such shape that he can enjoy the full
flavor Of the Hawaiian product, and
thCs" are commercially posi- le, new
method of preserving the fruit for mar,
ket NAV be developed. The chemists
have only just begun to work on tn"
problems presented by the pineapple
preserving industry. If either Of tn"
new methods suggested by Mr.. Gore :
, Investigations will deliver II better IN
more normal product to the consumer
there is good reason right there WIN
commercial experiments should
made.